23 years ago, over the Hillsborough disaster, Kelvin Mackenzie, then editor of the Sun, damaged innumerable lives. A few words spring to mind to describe the former editor of the Sun, none of which are innocent, well meaning or honest. The Hillsborough disaster happened 23 years ago. Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football teams were playing each other and due to panic and a human crush, 96 lives were claimed. Then ensued a major cover-up with hundreds of reports by police officers changed so as to blame the fans, and more specifically the Liverpool fans.
This cover up was helped in part by the article published by the Sun, written by Harry Arnold. MacKenzie overruled the line Arnold originally wanted to take, (which was one of potential fabrication), and re-named it “The Truth.” This front page story stated “facts” about drunken fans being to blame, pick-pocketing victims and “urinating on the their bodies”.
After a campaign lasting more than 20 years by the victims’ relatives, the Government finally set up an independent inquiry led by the Bishop of Liverpool. The Government also made all the official papers from the time accessible to the public. So, finally, the truth really has been published. With that truth comes anger and blame from the public. An unsafe environment, human error and a failure of the emergency services were to blame. Not the fans. And in order to protect themselves and deflect blame, the police ordered hundreds of reports to be amended.
Kelvin Mackenzie’s headline poured hurt on to the mourning of the relatives and loved ones and, in doing so, caused even more grief. McKenzie’s malicious article perhaps deserves condemnation.
MacKenzie issued an apology for the article, saying that he had relied on information from others and that it had been an “honest” mistake.
Alex Thompson, a reporter from Channel 4 News, recently went to Mackenzie’s house to fill a slot for the evening news (the video of which can be found here). Thompson tried aggressively to extract information. Thompson banged on the front door, and then shouted through the letterbox, asking the ex-editor to answer his questions. MacKenzie repeatedly stated that he would not speak to Thompson but would answer the questions he had the following week. Thompson would not leave Mackenzie’s property when asked to do so and then attempted to prevent Mackenzie from leaving his own home by blocking the car door whilst Mackenzie repeatedly asked him to move. He then tried to claim that it was Mackenzie who was assaulting him.
I personally have never wavered in my dislike of Mackenzie, I believe him to be a man of little morality, and that he abused his position of power in the article on the Hillsborough disaster. However watching this video, I felt deeply uncomfortable. These tactics are little more than bullying, and not the way a journalist should conduct himself. This only seems to reflect the way Mackenzie himself would do business. Is this what we have to expect from journalists now? And how could Channel 4 allow this journalist to swap all his integrity for such a cheap thrill?
There is no reason that Mackenzie shouldn’t be made to take responsibility for his actions, but door stepping is a way of making someone look guilty. Thompson comes across a bully.
Does a nation get the media it deserves? In the light of the revelations before the current Levenson inquiry and Kate Middleton’s “over exposure”, I believe that it really is time the entire nation should be able to believe once again in our media. We need them to be committed, truthful and fearless, not sneaky and dishonest. Alex Thompson steps way over the line in this video.
David Ogle, commenting on the Guardian about this issue, said, “I don’t like to see what I’ve always thought of as a highly ethical news service sink to the same level as someone like McKenzie. Channel 4 News should be better than this.”
Such a catastrophic disaster needs to be dealt with care and compassion and parts of the press have played a critical role in helping to ensure that the relatives and public discovered the awful truth about what happened 23 years ago at Hillsborough and the cover up that followed. McKenzie made a terrible error of judgment and hurt very many innocent people, but by condoning what Thompson did, are we not allowing this form of lazy, shoddy bullying journalism to continue?