Thursday 15th april 2004?

Liverpool Football Club - General Discussion

Postby mottman » Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:12 pm

National boycott the S*n day?
Is now the time to start thinking about promoting it and getting a few things prepared?

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum....0;image

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum....5;image

Taken from Kenny Dalglish - My Autobiography.

When the S*n came out with the story about Liverpool fans being drunk and unruly, underneath a headline ‘The Truth,’ the reaction on Merseyside was one of complete outrage. Newsagents stopped stocking the S*n. People wouldn’t mention its name. They were burning copies of it. Anyone representing the S*n was abused. S*n reporters and photographers would lie, telling people they worked for the Liverpool Post and Echo. There was a lot of harassment of them because of what had been written. The Star had gone a bit strong as well but they apologised the next day. They knew the story had no foundation. Kelvin MacKenzie, the S*n’s editor, even called me up.

"How can we correct the situation?" he said.

"You know that big headline – ‘The Truth’," I replied. "All you have to do is put ‘We lied’ in the same size. Then you might be all right."

Mackenzie said: "I cannot do that."

"Well," I replied, "I cannot help you then."

That was it. I put the phone down. Merseysiders were outraged by the S*n. A great many still are.


Fans urge boycott of The Scum "newspaper"
Posted on Monday, April 14 @ 19:37:53 GMT by Rushian

Tomorrow, the 15th April, is the 14th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster and people across the country are being urged to boycott The Scum newspaper as the Hillsborough Justice Campaign (HJC) continue their fight for justice. Before Saturday's match with Fulham the HJC handed out 30,000 stickers. Posters, leaflets and letters have also been distributed to newspagents throughout the Merseyside area (many of which are currently forced to take the newspaper by their distributors). Some of these posters were held up on the Kop on Saturday:
http://live.vg.no/live/images/kamp/2003-04/5175.jpg


The background to the boycott lies in the coverage by The Scum newspaper, edited at the time by Kelvin Mackenzie (now head of TalkSport) on the Wednesday following the disaster. It ran a front page article under the banner headline “The Truth” and proceeded to make outrageous claims that the fans had robbed and urinated on the dead, as well as beating up police as they tried to carry out the rescue operation. These allegations have, of course, been proven to be total and utter lies.

http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/history/media.shtm

The response on Merseyside was one of outrage. Copies of the paper were burnt in the street and a boycott begun. The Press Council was flooded with complaints and ultimately upheld those complaints about The Scum’s disgraceful coverage of the disaster and found them guilty of lying. Despite this damning verdict Rupert Murdoch's newspaper has to this day refused to publish an adequate apology for the coverage and as a result the boycott remains in place.

A recent article in the Press Gazette (20th March) testifies to the power of the boycott:

"The Scum is still struggling with the legacy of Hillsborough, 14 years after the most disastrous publishing decision in the newspaper’s history, the National Readership Survey’s figures suggest. In North West England, The Scum is a poor second to the Daily Mirror"

It has been estimated that the boycott has cost News International £125 million in revenue and half a billion in sales and the newspaper is acutely aware of this:

"Ian Clarke, advertising director at The Scum, admitted this week: 'We know it was a mistake .... but every year it [the boycott] softens slightly as a younger audience comes through.' "

The paper has used many methods to increase sales again including heavy discounting of the price and radio ads on Merseyside up to the disgraceful full page advert in this season's Worthington Cup Final programme.

Whilst the newspaper is boycotted by many Reds across the country many of our younger fans are unaware of the lies that were printed by the rag and the still strong support for the boycott. The best way to make them (and others) aware is through education. For more information on the Hillsborough Disaster and the Justice Campaign visit:

http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/

Keep the boycott strong and Justice for the 96
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Postby mottman » Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:13 pm

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspu...1119883,00.html
From the Guardian
The S*n's circulation has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years after dropping nearly 5% in just 12 months, dealing a blow to Rebekah Wade who is this week celebrating a year in the editor's chair.
Sales of the tabloid newspaper fell below 3.3 million in December for the first time since January 1974, 4.95% down on the previous year.

It reached just 3,277,000, according to audited ABC figures, well down on the previous year but still well ahead of January 1974 when it last fell below the psychologically significant 3 million mark.

December is traditionally a slow month for newspaper sales and The Scum was by no means the worst performer.

But the figures will nonetheless come as a psychological blow for the paper, which has enjoyed a relatively stable circulation over the past three decades thanks in part to its aggressive pricing strategy.

More than 100,000 readers deserted the paper in December compared with the previous month, a fall of more than 3%.

This was more of a drop than any other national daily paper except the Daily Star and the Daily Express.

The 5% year-on-year drop will be particularly embarrassing for Wade, who took over last January and has spent the first week of this year watching arch-rival Daily Mirror dominate the news with its scoop that Princess Diana believed Prince Charles wanted her dead.

In the final year of her predecessor David Yelland's tenure the S*n's circulation increased by 4.2% to just under 3.5 million a day, while the Daily Mirror's fell by 0.75% to just over 2 million.

The one consolation for Wade will be that the Mirror's sales have fallen even further, dropping 6.5% year on year to 1.9 million last month.

The figures for both papers are particularly dramatic because they were artificially boosted by low prices in 2002.

The Mirror called a truce in its bitter price war with the S*n last spring, at the instigation of new Trinity Mirror chief executive, Sly Bailey.

The war, launched by the Mirror in May 2002, is estimated to have cost The Scum £65m. At its peak, more than 2 million copies of the paper were being sold at a discount.

No one at the S*n could be reached for comment.

May it long continue to drop
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Postby mottman » Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:14 pm

Posted by Emsy 18th January 2004.

An argument often put forward with regard to the S*n boycott is 'the guilty people are no longer part of the paper - why still punish them?'. A lazy argument really - if this is the case, why dont the present incumbents swallow their pride and admit to their dirty history? But the S*n has a long history of kicking people when they are down.
'the guilty people are no longer part of the paper - why still punish them?'

Be under NO illusions - The S*n is still up to it's tricks - you never know when it will turn on you.

There are already 96 reasons you should never buy the rag - here are 20 more which show that they have not learnt their lesson. I have included the links from where I found these stories so you may read about the rag and its shameful past in more detail.


1). GOTCHA – The S*n and it’s reporting of the Falklands war.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/falklands/story/...,657850,00.html

MacKenzie happily embraced the legend of "Gotcha". Indeed, the day after the Belgrano's sinking, The Scum's front page, "ALIVE! Hundreds of Argies saved from Atlantic", played down the fact that 368 men were killed. Later, comparing death to a game of football, MacKenzie produced the headline: "BRITAIN 6 (Georgia, two airstrips, three warplanes), ARGENTINA 0."
By now, MacKenzie had opened a second front, seizing the chance to fight another war - for circulation - by attacking the Daily Mirror which, alone among the tabloids, adopted an anti-war stance. A Sun leader spoke of "the traitors in our midst", such as "the timorous, whining Mirror" (and, incidentally, "the pygmy Guardian"). MacKenzie was making an overt attempt to win over the Mirror's audience by appealing to their sense of patriotism. The Mirror hit back with an editorial headlined "The Harlot of Fleet Street", which called The Scum "coarse and demented", a paper which had "fallen from the gutter to the sewer", and concluded: "The Scum today is to journalism what Dr Joseph Goebbels was to truth."
Though Petrie later argued that The Scum had supplanted the Mirror as the paper beloved by soldiers and sailors, the paper's official historian quoted a serviceman who said, "Your headlines often made us feel sick", and that there were "ritual burnings of The Scum" on the task force vessels.
MacKenzie, convinced that he was properly articulating his readers' views, was unconcerned. He even laughed off Private Eye's spoof Sun headline, "KILL AN ARGIE AND WIN A METRO", joking: "Why didn't we think of that?”


2). Anything to stay popular…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/s...000/3068749.stm

Five years after its arrival on Fleet Street, The Scum was up for sale partly because of losses dating back to its predecessor, the Herald.
As a broadsheet, the paper was attracting a daily readership of one million.
There were two key players interested in buying: the millionaire Labour MP Robert Maxwell and the right-leaning Australian newspaper proprietor Rupert Murdoch, who already owned The News of the World.
Mr Murdoch clinched the deal and immediately relaunched The Scum as a tabloid - shortly followed by the introduction of the Page Three girls.
In 1978 The Scum overtook its closest rival The Mirror in the circulation war.
In 1986 Mr Murdoch introduced new print technology and moved The Scum to Wapping.
In 1997 The Scum returned to its Labour roots and backed Tony Blair for Prime Minister.
In 2002 the paper's circulation was about 3.6 million.


3). Page 3

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...1122926,00.html

The Scum has launched a scathing personal attack on Labour MP Clare Short, branding her a "killjoy" and "fat and jealous" of its Page 3 girls.
It hit out at the maverick Labour MP after she renewed her attack on Page 3 girls, branding pictures of topless models "degrading pornography".
Using a montage of Ms Short's face superimposed on a topless model, it likened her to the back of a bus and and "jokes" that making her into a Page 3 girl would be "mission impossible".


4.) It’s attitude towards Asylum seekers…

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...1104109,00.html

The Press Complaints Commission has been branded "disgraceful" after it decided not to force an apology out of The Scum for a story claiming asylum seekers in London had poached and eaten swans.
The Scum published a small clarification in Saturday's paper over a front page report in July about the disappearance of swans in Beckton, which alleged police had caught asylum seekers with swans which they were preparing to roast.
The newspaper admitted nobody had been arrested over any such offence, but maintained that numerous members of the public had accused eastern European refugees of killing the birds to eat.


5.) Lies…Lies….Lies

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...1004408,00.html

The Scum today apologised to Kate Adie and paid an undisclosed sum in damages after falsely accusing the veteran war reporter of endangering the prime minister's life by revealing details of a foreign trip.
Adie agreed an out of court settlement with The Scum over a front page story headlined "Sack Kate Adie - fury at security boob", in which the newspaper claimed she had revealed top secret details about Tony Blair's visit to the Middle East.


6). Uncaring about the individual.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...,931562,00.html

The Scum has apologised for a second time to a man whom it wrongly identified as a child sex offender.
On March 29 the tabloid published a picture of a man over the headline "Face of kid ban pervert". The adjoining article stated that the photograph was of Christopher Harris, who had been banned from going near children for life after assaulting girls in Great Yarmouth.
However, owing to a mix-up by a picture agency, the photograph was in fact of David Gazley, a man with no connection to any such offences.


7). Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishin...,909837,00.html

The Scum has become embroiled in a row over accuracy after the 14-year-old boy named in today's front-page story claimed the article was wrong.
George Barlow burst into tears as he denied the newspaper's claims that he had been "insulted" by Prince Philip.
Under the headline "You old Git, Phil", the newspaper reported that the gaffe-prone Prince had insulted the teenager while on a visit to his school.
The Scum said the Prince had "sneered" at Mr Barlow, a fan of the royal family who wrote to the Queen to request a visit to his school in Romford, Essex.
"Ah, you're the one who wrote the letter. So you can write then. ##, ##!" The Scum reported the Prince as saying.


8 ). Invasion of privacy.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishin...,903724,00.html

Pressure for the government to tighten controls on the press intensified yesterday when The Scum outed the Labour MP Clive Betts.
Fellow MPs raised the issue of press intrusion at Labour's weekly parliamentary meeting yesterday morning, attended by the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell. Intrusion is already the subject of an inquiry by the select committee on culture, media and sport, chaired by Gerald Kaufman, a champion of statutory controls.


9). Right wing and racist.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishin...,879372,00.html

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishin...,879370,00.html

Press watchdogs are to investigate The Scum following complaints about a satirical feature on asylum seekers, yardies and drug dealers who, the paper claimed, are flourishing "under New Labour".
One week into her job as Sun editor, Rebekah Wade provoked accusations of racism with the paper's controversial reinterpretation of the much-loved children's characters the Mr Men


10). The culture of the newspaper

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...1083071,00.html

Rupert Murdoch's company, News International, paid £500,000 to silence allegations of serious sexual harassment against a former editor of The Scum newspaper, a Labour MP claimed yesterday.
Stuart Higgins was accused of crude and offensive behaviour towards his executive secretary during the time he edited the paper between 1994 and 1998. The Labour MP Clive Soley told parliament that staff on Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper had suffered "sexual harassment and bullying".


11.) Courting controversy to attract readers.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...1065603,00.html

Campaigners for children's rights have severely criticised The Scum's "Shop a Yob" campaign to name and shame youngsters who are subject to anti-social behaviour orders.
The policy adviser to the Children's Rights Alliance for England, which represents more than 180 organisations, expressed her concerns about the initiative.
"We're very worried about it. It smacks a little of lynch mob behaviour," said Terri Dowty.
As part of Shop a Yob The Scum has published the photographs, names and ages of youngsters who have anti-social behaviour orders against them.


12). Nicole Kidman

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...1062727,00.html

The Scum has apologised to Nicole Kidman and agreed to pay her libel damages and legal costs over false allegations that she had an adulterous affair with Jude Law.
The allegations, which appeared in The Scum on March 5, caused the Hollywood actress "considerable embarrassment and distress", her solicitor, Keith Schilling, told Mr Justice Eady at the high court today


13). The Beckham Kidnap Plot.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/medialaw/story...,973840,00.html

The News of the World exposé of an alleged plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham was based largely on the unsupported testimony of a serial fantasist with a history of mental health problems.
Last week the Crown Prosecution Service announced that all the charges relating to the kidnapping were to be dropped because the main witness, Florim Gashi, 27, was unreliable.
The CPS reached this decision after learning that Gashi had been paid £10,000 by the newspaper. But an Observer investigation has found that much of the evidence provided by Gashi had been fabricated and that other key elements had been engineered to support his version of events.


14). Prize draw blunder.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/thesun/story/0...1050380,00.html

The Scum suspended four journalists after a major error in a money-winning competition left the tabloid liable to pay out more than £1m to readers.
A features executive, two subeditors and a page-builder were suspended over a production error that doubled the number of winners in the Starstuck competition, although not all of those eligible have claimed their prize.
All four, however, were quickly reinstated following an investigation into the mistake, which appears to have occurred while editions of the paper were being changed.


15). Frank Bruno

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishin...1047966,00.html

The Scum was last night forced into a humiliating about-turn following a storm of protest over a front-page headline that labelled former boxer Frank Bruno "bonkers", after he was taken to a psychiatric hospital.
In the first edition of the paper the front page splashed with the headline "Bonkers Bruno Locked Up" above a story that labelled him a "nut", prompting a storm of protest from readers and mental health charities.
Realising it had misjudged the public mood, The Scum's editor, Rebekah Wade, was forced into a climbdown, changing the headline to read, "Sad Bruno in Mental Health Home", with the accompanying story labelling him a "hero".


16). Cheriegate

http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr...,988753,00.html

The Scum has been found guilty of "one of the most serious forms of physical intrusion into privacy" by watchdogs over taped telephone calls involving the boyfriend of Cherie Blair's lifestyle guru Carole Caplin.
The press complaints commission said the paper was wrong to have published the transcripts of the conversations between Australian conman Peter Foster and his mother.


17). George Galloway – Traitor.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishin...,928738,00.html

George Galloway MP today branded The Scum newspaper guilty of "cancerous racist pornographic propaganda" after it described him as "an enemy of the state".
"The Scum is owned by Rupert Murdoch; so patriotic that he has been a citizen of three different countries in 15 years, a kind of serial patriotism which is the last refuge of such scoundrels," Mr Galloway said.


18). A reporters view…Why I quit The Scum.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/...,925903,00.html

Last week, Katy Weitz resigned as a feature writer on The Scum because of the strength and tone of its support for the war in the Gulf. Here she sets out her motives


19). Racism

http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/s...,895674,00.html

The Scum newspaper has been banned from Leeds University student union shops in protest against its portrayal of asylum seekers
The motion, proposed by student Rebecca Allen and seconded by Tim Nicholson, was passed yesterday with 121 votes for and 111 against at the university's annual general meeting.
Ms Allen said the motion had been prompted by "unnecessary racist articles" that had appeared in the paper.
The motion read: "The Scum newspaper is now carrying out a vicious campaign against asylum seekers and the basic human right of asylum in general."
The newspaper, which sells 3,000 copies a month in union shops, will not be available for one month, or until it drops its "racist campaign", the motion said.


20). The fire service boycott.

http://www.kirkbytimes.co.uk/news_items/boycott_sun.html

Kirkby Times is more than willing to draw attention to the recent attacks by The Scum Gutter Rag on the Fire Brigade. Not surprisingly, The Scum or SCUM as its known in Merseyside, has decided to approach the strike guns blazing for Blair and as usual employing its well known tactic of attacking any Union which dares to ask for more than 2 0r 3% payrises. The Journalists who work for The Scum, are not only paid more than the Fire Brigade, they have actually deluded themselves that they are some sort of service to society. Its time now for a new generation of Merseysiders and indeed anyone in the UK and beyond to Boycott this Gutter Rag. Through the Internet we can help to destroy the monopoly the mass media hold on passing on information.

The S*n loses millions because of our boycott - but their belief is that over time, younger people will ensure it is all forgotten about. Please visit http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough and educate yourself and others about what happened that day.

Education is the key.

Justice for the 96.

You'll Never Walk Alone.
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Postby mottman » Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:17 pm

Here is a copy of a letter to be printed out and passed to your newsagent.

http://www.hjccup.co.uk/newsagents.doc

This one is the poster to accompany the letter.

http://www.rawk.eclipse.co.uk/dontbuythesxn.jpg

Please print copies off and forward to your local newsagent.

Copies are available from the HJC shop.

Thank you

96 Candles burn bright
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Postby mottman » Sat Apr 03, 2004 11:22 pm

Image
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Postby The Manhattan Project » Sun Apr 04, 2004 6:27 pm

The Hillsborough Disaster happened on my ninth birthday.

I've been doing some reading on Hillsborough today and watching some footage on the campaign for Hillsborough site.

It's been playing on my mind heavily in recent days and will obviously on the 15th, which will be my 24th birthday.

It's hard to believe that it's been fifteen long years since that terrible day.

I also saw the front page from "The Scum" which made those disgraceful accusations. It made me nauseous. The fact that they referred to those coppers as 'brave' is equally disgusting. They were directly responsible for that atrocity and did nothing to help our people when they were crying for help and being crushed to death.

I always feel as though the nation looks down at Liverpool fans, as if our lives are not worth anything. What they don't understand is that we have a culture, a history, a tradition. We are a club like no other. Our standards are higher than any others.

Makes me realise that when it comes down to what's important at Liverpool FC, all we can depend on is each other. Reading the list of "The Lost 96" it occurs to me that they died because no one cared. They were neglected to death. The families never have recieved justice. This whole sorry cover-up should remain on the consciences of those who perpetrated this act of criminal neglect for the rest of their lives. I hope that the screams of the victims remain in their minds forever. The ba#ta#ds. They must never be allowed to forget what they did.

God Bless The Memories Of The Victims, Their Families And Their Fight For Justice.

God Bless Liverpool Football Club.

Walk On.
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Postby Big Niall » Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:24 pm

Even though I'm Irish, there's no way I even allow that rag into my house!

I cannot believe any Liverpool fan would ever buy it. Neither should any football out of respect.

Its a loose connection but I hope Leeds get relegated as I think its wrong to sing about United's Munich crash, regardless of what club you follow you should always show respect when it is due.
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Postby Owzat » Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:45 pm

I think this should be further up.........
Never buy from PC World, product quality is poor and their 'customer service' is even poorer
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Postby mottman » Tue Apr 06, 2004 5:45 pm

The following is a questionnaire received by the HJC from a French student studying the history of boycotting.  I would be grateful if you could cut and paste the questions below and provide your comments.

Thank you

Robbie
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Postby mottman » Tue Apr 06, 2004 5:46 pm

The Sun boycott

1. What was the reaction in Liverpool on the day the headline “The Truth” was published? What was the reaction when people started to read this unbelievable headline?  Do you have any specific memory of that, anecdote and what not?

2. Were people directly affected by the tragedy actively involved in the boycott, or were they too shattered to take part?

3. Who “decided” the boycott

4. What was “your” role in this boycott?

5. After the boycott had started: do you know if the national press covered the boycott or not? If so, how did it do it? If not, why did it not do so?

6. What was the goal behind the boycott? Was there an identifiable goal, or was it rather a gut reaction, people thinking and saying, “We can’t buy this sxxx !

7. Did you hear of cases of intimidation, people buying “The Sxn” who might have been abused in the street etc.? Newsagents who didn’t stock “The Sxn” because they were afraid of potential retaliation against them, etc?

8. Do you think Kelvin MacKenzie and the journalists for “The Sxn” in general might not have anticipated there would be a massive boycott, considering the heap of abuse they hurled on the Liverpool fans?

9. What motivated the people to join the boycott, and call on others to participate as well? Do you think they felt they were recovering a dignity denied them by the mainstream media, etc? Did you want to try and make “The Sxn” accountable? Had you any hope of this or not?

10. Do you think the boycott promoted a greater sense of community among Liverpool people? Do you think it made a close-knit city, united against the Sxn (a kind of David against arrogant Goliath)?

11.    Was the boycott itself only targeting “The Sxn” or were other tabloids targeted as well, or was the boycott of “The Sxn” a way of making one paper pay for its shameful covering the event, but also the lies to be found in other papers as well (tabloids plus s0-called “Quality press”)?

12. What about Liverpool people and “The Sxn” now?  Is resentment against “The Sxn” still palpable today in 2004? What’s the meaning of the current boycott campaign every 15th of April?

13. Of course, you’re more than welcome to ad anything personal which may contribute to a greater understanding of the boycott.
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Postby Owzat » Wed Apr 07, 2004 1:47 pm

:blues:
Never buy from PC World, product quality is poor and their 'customer service' is even poorer
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