Bring back MacKenzie?
Are you kidding?
I REFER to Victor Noir’s article “Hey Prime Minister” (last issue). While I take the point about showbiz reporters becoming editors of national newspapers signalling a sign of a slip in standards of journalism, I am gobsmacked by the last paragraph advocating the return of Kelvin MacKenzie to the role of editor at The Sun.
The article describes showbiz reporters’ methods as “not a good model of news journalism”. And Mackenzie’s is?
Should you need reminding, he is the man responsible for The Sun’s “The Truth” headline which accused Liverpool fans at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 of urinating on police and robbing victims.
It lost 200,000 sales in a week, its reputation on Merseyside and was condemned by the Press Complaints Commission. In July 2004, it tried to make amends by printing a full-page apology, describing its coverage of the disaster as “the most terrible mistake in its history”.
As for Mackenzie, I have yet to see his apology to the families of the 96 people that died in the disaster.
To call for the return of this man displays amazing ignorance and insensitivity. A simple Google search can tell you all you need to know about him.
Inexcusable.
Gareth Roberts
Ormskirk
Yes, Victor Noir was kidding. Editor