No end to the s*n's sorry tale
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 8:48 pm
The row over the red top's Hillsborough front page goes on, writes Mark Lupton
Monday January 31, 2005
The Guardian
Contrition and humility are not words normally associated with the Sxn newspaper. Holding up its hands and admitting it made a mistake is not its style. But one mistake has cost it dearly for the past 15 years, and the paper's management appears to have realised by how much. On April 18, 1989, just three days after 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in the Hillsborough soccer tragedy, the Sxn printed "The Truth" about what happened at the FA cup semi final in Sheffield. Quoting unnamed police sources, the Sxn said "some fans" had urinated on the dead, pickpocketed bodies, and beaten up a police officer giving the kiss of life. Merseyside reacted with revulsion and a boycott of the paper was soon under way. Sales are still down from about 55,000 to 12,000 a day. Many newsagents refuse to sell it and those that do only keep a handful of copies.
Last year, the Sxn printed a grovelling apology for what it described as the worst mistake in its history. The apology was publicly rejected by the families of Hillsborough victims, but what has not been reported is that Sxn executives made strenuous efforts, before the apology was made, to secure the support of several families. A BBC documentary, due to be broadcast next month, filmed the delicate negotiations: "If countries can go to war and be friends in 15 years then can't the Sxn and Merseyside do that as well?" asks Sxn managing editor Graham Dudman in the film.
Dudman's intervention, which also included appearances on local radio phone-ins, came after the paper's deal to tell Wayne Rooney's life story attracted renewed vilification in the city. Rooney was lambasted in the local press for "betraying" his roots.
"He [Rooney] was being vilified locally in the papers, on the web and on the radio stations, and having abuse hurled at him, and all for talking to the Sxn. And we thought, well this is getting ridiculous now so we'll apologise," Dudman says.
The editor responsible for The Truth front page, Kelvin MacKenzie, had said sorry when the Press Complaints Commission condemned the story as "insensitive, provocative and unwarranted". But last summer was the first time the paper had gone on the record to say it got it wrong. The Sxn said: "Our carelessness and thoughtlessness following that blackest of days made the grief of their families and friends even harder to bear."
In the documentary, Dudman says: "What we did was a terrible mistake. It was a terrible, insensitive, horrible article, with a dreadful headline; but what we'd also say is: we have apologised for it, and the entire senior team here now is completely different from the team that put the paper out in 1989."
The apology's timing - after the Rooney deal - was pounced on as evidence of cynical opportunism. Liverpool's local newspapers - run by Trinity Mirror, owners of the Sxn's arch nemesis the Daily Mirror - led the vitriolic counter-attack. It was clear more was needed from the paper if it was to get what it wanted - an end to the boycott. Dudman travelled to Liverpool in August in a bid to secure talks with the Hillsborough Family Support Group. His appeal for forgiveness included an offer to campaign for the families in their continuing fight for justice - if they accepted the apology. Four family members tentatively met him and after much persuasion agreed to put his appeal to the group as a whole. However, when the group met at Anfield, with Dudman waiting at a hotel to hear the outcome, it voted to refuse him an audience.
Dudman's visit represents a big setback for the paper. Although lines of communication were kept open shortly afterwards, dialogue between the two sides appears to have ground to a halt. Without an agreement with the families, it is difficult to see how sales could recover on Merseyside.
At the meeting with the four family members, Dudman argued that other papers had run similar stories to the Sxn that day - all of which had obtained their information from the police. But it was the Sxn's insistence that its version was the Truth which was to prove its undoing. It was also held partly responsible for a perception among the families of Hillsborough victims that they have never really had "justice" over what happened - no one has been held to account and a private prosecution against the police collapsed.
Ultimately, the Sxn's struggle to convince Merseyside of its genuine contrition is held back by an overwhelming belief that its motives are cynical. Scousers think that it only wants the boycott overturned so it can start making money again in Liverpool. But if MacKenzie was ultimately responsible as editor - why not boycott anything associated with him, including TalkSport where he works?
"Of course, the Sxn is about selling newspapers, that's what we do for our business," says Dudman. "But we are not a cruel or nasty or vindictive paper ... we really do mean it when we say we are sorry."
The Sxn Says Sorry and Other Tales of Forgiveness is broadcast on BBC2 on Monday, February 14 at 9pm.
Monday January 31, 2005
The Guardian
Contrition and humility are not words normally associated with the Sxn newspaper. Holding up its hands and admitting it made a mistake is not its style. But one mistake has cost it dearly for the past 15 years, and the paper's management appears to have realised by how much. On April 18, 1989, just three days after 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in the Hillsborough soccer tragedy, the Sxn printed "The Truth" about what happened at the FA cup semi final in Sheffield. Quoting unnamed police sources, the Sxn said "some fans" had urinated on the dead, pickpocketed bodies, and beaten up a police officer giving the kiss of life. Merseyside reacted with revulsion and a boycott of the paper was soon under way. Sales are still down from about 55,000 to 12,000 a day. Many newsagents refuse to sell it and those that do only keep a handful of copies.
Last year, the Sxn printed a grovelling apology for what it described as the worst mistake in its history. The apology was publicly rejected by the families of Hillsborough victims, but what has not been reported is that Sxn executives made strenuous efforts, before the apology was made, to secure the support of several families. A BBC documentary, due to be broadcast next month, filmed the delicate negotiations: "If countries can go to war and be friends in 15 years then can't the Sxn and Merseyside do that as well?" asks Sxn managing editor Graham Dudman in the film.
Dudman's intervention, which also included appearances on local radio phone-ins, came after the paper's deal to tell Wayne Rooney's life story attracted renewed vilification in the city. Rooney was lambasted in the local press for "betraying" his roots.
"He [Rooney] was being vilified locally in the papers, on the web and on the radio stations, and having abuse hurled at him, and all for talking to the Sxn. And we thought, well this is getting ridiculous now so we'll apologise," Dudman says.
The editor responsible for The Truth front page, Kelvin MacKenzie, had said sorry when the Press Complaints Commission condemned the story as "insensitive, provocative and unwarranted". But last summer was the first time the paper had gone on the record to say it got it wrong. The Sxn said: "Our carelessness and thoughtlessness following that blackest of days made the grief of their families and friends even harder to bear."
In the documentary, Dudman says: "What we did was a terrible mistake. It was a terrible, insensitive, horrible article, with a dreadful headline; but what we'd also say is: we have apologised for it, and the entire senior team here now is completely different from the team that put the paper out in 1989."
The apology's timing - after the Rooney deal - was pounced on as evidence of cynical opportunism. Liverpool's local newspapers - run by Trinity Mirror, owners of the Sxn's arch nemesis the Daily Mirror - led the vitriolic counter-attack. It was clear more was needed from the paper if it was to get what it wanted - an end to the boycott. Dudman travelled to Liverpool in August in a bid to secure talks with the Hillsborough Family Support Group. His appeal for forgiveness included an offer to campaign for the families in their continuing fight for justice - if they accepted the apology. Four family members tentatively met him and after much persuasion agreed to put his appeal to the group as a whole. However, when the group met at Anfield, with Dudman waiting at a hotel to hear the outcome, it voted to refuse him an audience.
Dudman's visit represents a big setback for the paper. Although lines of communication were kept open shortly afterwards, dialogue between the two sides appears to have ground to a halt. Without an agreement with the families, it is difficult to see how sales could recover on Merseyside.
At the meeting with the four family members, Dudman argued that other papers had run similar stories to the Sxn that day - all of which had obtained their information from the police. But it was the Sxn's insistence that its version was the Truth which was to prove its undoing. It was also held partly responsible for a perception among the families of Hillsborough victims that they have never really had "justice" over what happened - no one has been held to account and a private prosecution against the police collapsed.
Ultimately, the Sxn's struggle to convince Merseyside of its genuine contrition is held back by an overwhelming belief that its motives are cynical. Scousers think that it only wants the boycott overturned so it can start making money again in Liverpool. But if MacKenzie was ultimately responsible as editor - why not boycott anything associated with him, including TalkSport where he works?
"Of course, the Sxn is about selling newspapers, that's what we do for our business," says Dudman. "But we are not a cruel or nasty or vindictive paper ... we really do mean it when we say we are sorry."
The Sxn Says Sorry and Other Tales of Forgiveness is broadcast on BBC2 on Monday, February 14 at 9pm.