Students need to be aware of the current news story that relates to the shocking death of 96 Liverpool supporters at the FA Cup Semi-Final at Hillsborough in 1989. Yesterday the Hillsborough Independent Panel published a damning report that states that elements of the South Yorkshire Police Force were incompetent and their behaviour may have contributed to the deaths of many football supporters. It appears that Senior Police Officers attempted to blame the Liverpool supporters for the tragedy and, with the help of local Sheffield Tory MP Irvine Patnick, began to fabricate a narrative that blamed supporters in an attempt to mask their own incompetence and ignorance. The Sun newspaper - specifically the editor Kelvin McKenzie - helped construct this narrative with their shameful coverage of the tragedy. The Sun was the largest selling tabloid in the UK and this was a pre-digital world. This was a very influential national newspaper. Yesterday the Sun apologised for their coverage of this moment in 1989. This apology was offered only weeks after they published a controversial photograph of Harry Wales.
Students should be aware of this news story because this horrific journalistic moment relates to the Leveson Inquiry and the investigation into press standards. How much regulation do we need to stop a newspaper fabricating news stories? Do newspapers have a moral obligation to their readers or is a newspaper merely a means of creating profit? We will be discussing this issue throughout the course. RESEARCH REQUIRED.
Article from The Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9540181/Hillsborough-The-Sun-profoundly-sorry-over-false-fan-conduct-reports.html
Article from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/12/hillsborough-victims-families-police-resignation
The Sun's Apology. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQWAS6kT0dw
Video from LFCTV online. Why The Sun is not a popular newspaper on Merseyside: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkA_uhijyCI
No comments:
Post a Comment