Grade A Hypocrite

[sadoldgit]

I see that Kelvin McKenzie was giving the copper who lied about the gate at Hillsborough a hard time in his column in The Sun today and is saying he is going to sue. Kelvin McKenzie was the editor of The Sun at the time and was responsible for its appalling coverage of the tragedy. To lay the blame for the way his newspaper chose to cover the event tells you all you need to know about the type of people Murdoch employs.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

I think you will find he was briefed by the police and ran the story based on what the police told him

[sadoldgit]

Was he the only one? I don't recall any other papers going to town on the Liverpool fans in the same way that The Sun did.

[sadoldgit]

MacKenzie explained his actions in 1993. Talking to a House of Commons National Heritage Select Committee, he said: "I regret Hillsborough. It was a fundamental mistake. The mistake was I believed what an MP said. It was a Tory MP. If he had not said it and the Chief Superintendent (David Duckenfield) had not agreed with it, we would not have gone with it."

 

MacKenzie retracted the apology in November 2006, saying he apologised because the newspaper's owner, Rupert Murdoch, had ordered him to do so, stating: "I was not sorry then and I'm not sorry now".[163] MacKenzie refused to apologise when appearing on the BBC's topical Question Time on 11 January 2007.[164]

 

 

The above was taken from Wikipedia. It is basic journalism to check sources. MacKenzie was the most outspoken critic of Liverpool fans. Why weren't others as vocal?

[View From The Top]

There can be no doubt at all where the blame is. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-31941691

 

Many have know the truth for years yet some cu nts on here still blame drunken Liverpool fans.

 

The OB covered it up and blamed the dead. Utterly disgusting.

[sadoldgit]

As MacKenzie's layout was seen by more and more people, a collective shudder ran through the office (but) MacKenzie's dominance was so total there was nobody left in the organisation who could rein him in except Murdoch. (Everyone in the office) seemed paralysed—"looking like rabbits in the headlights"—as one hack described them. The error staring them in the face was too glaring. It obviously wasn't a silly mistake; nor was it a simple oversight. Nobody really had any comment on it—they just took one look and went away shaking their heads in wonder at the enormity of it. It was a 'classic smear'.

 

The above taken from a history of The Sun

[aintforever]

That copper who lied deserves all the grilling he gets. The ****** should spend time behind bars for what he did.

[sadoldgit]

Of course he does, but Mackenzie shouldn't be let off the hook.

[Unbelievable Jeff]

See him at the train station almost daily, spoken to him a few times, always says hello with his copy of the Telegraph under his arm. Seems much nicer than he does on TV or in the press.

 

However, the way that he reported on the Hillsborough disaster was horrendous, even if the information he was given was indeed true. There was no excuse for what can only be seen as a lack of human decency in the way the Sun went about its business.

[sadoldgit]

The Telegraph? Blimey.

[Saint-Armstrong]

Had a big lecture on Hillsborough and it's coverage, with someone who once worked with MacKenzie and someone who was there on the day it happened.

 

They said the main issue with the way KM/The Sun went about business was that MacKenzie took the police's word as the instant truth, rather than questioning it and presenting it as the opinion of the police force. He ran wild and proclaimed it as 100% truth, rather than questioning it. However, he did point out that, generally in society, people do have that level of trust for the police. Maybe we shouldn't?!

 

He was fed the line by South Yorkshire Police / Duckenfield, which was also fed to other media groups. The difference is, others were more pragmatic and sensitive and decided it wouldn't be in their best interests to run it, especially so soon to the event.

 

The Sun, being The Sun, have an overwhelming desire to be bold, be loud, and be first - this is an occasion where they got it horribly wrong and rushed in.

 

 

 

(That's what was covered in this lecture, basically)

[sadoldgit]

Which makes Mackenzie's attack on the police chief even more pathetic. He c*cked up big time and now is trying to wriggle off of the hook.

[buctootim]

Which makes Mackenzie's attack on the police chief even more pathetic. He c*cked up big time and now is trying to wriggle off of the hook.

 

Presumably he printed what the police told him. Thats why he's angry (and yes I know he should have been more circumspect).

[sadoldgit]

As you say, it was entirely his choice and 100% down to him how The Sun chose to cover the disaster.

[Saint-Armstrong]

Which makes Mackenzie's attack on the police chief even more pathetic. He c*cked up big time and now is trying to wriggle off of the hook.

 

Absolutely, it's his responsibility to check what he's about to print, as it is also the responsibility of The Sun's legal advisors. It's understandable that he perhaps feels an underlying level of resentment towards Duckenfield and co, but he's not really doing himself any favours.

 

 

Presumably he printed what the police told him. Thats why he's angry (and yes I know he should have been more circumspect).

 

He did, but he charged in without fact-checking, or the level of concern for the incident that others in the media did show.

 

 

As you say, it was entirely his choice and 100% down to him how The Sun chose to cover the disaster.

 

Yup, his mistake - that's why you've got to try and cross-reference things. But, The Sun place huge pressure to get lead stories out first and fast, which was ill-advised here.

[sadoldgit]

He is still responsible for the way The Sun covered the tragedy. Trying to palm it off now doesn't cut it for me.