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| Kelvin MacKenzie and the Sun headlines smearing football fans at Hillsborough. |
He argues that the lies promulgated by the force in the aftermath of the tragedy in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed prompted him to publish a front page headlined "The Truth".Kelvin MacKenzie Instructs Lawyers to Seek Apology from Police Over Hillsborough 'Vilification' - PressGazette
Writing in tomorrow's issue of The Spectator, the former Sun editor speaks out for the first time in detail about his fateful decision to use the headline. It led to him suffering, he writes, "personal vilification for decades".
MacKenzie reveals that it was necessary to have his house patrolled by police and that he has faces physical danger should he enter the city of Liverpool. - Guardian
The Spectator reports today:
Writing in tomorrow’s Spectator, the former Sun editor speaks out for the first time in detail about his fateful decision to print the now infamous ‘THE TRUTH’ headline in the red-top the day after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.MacKenzie was quoted saying:
The terms of the apology and any compensation are to be debated, but MacKenzie tells of police patrols being increased around his house and the physical danger he faces in the city of Liverpool.
Kelvin admits that he was wrong, ‘but the people who have got away scot-free are South Yorkshire Police.’ He is seeking recompense for ‘the lies their officers told’.
Now I know — you know, we all know — that the fans were right. But it took 23 years, two inquiries, one inquest and research into 400,000 documents, many of which were kept secret under the 30-year no-publication rule, to discover there was a vast cover-up by South Yorkshire Police about the disaster. Where does that leave me?He also suggests that other publications ran the same “copper-bottomed” story but The Sun was only one singled out:
Liverpool fans didn’t turn on other media, only the Sun. That has always puzzled me. Was it picked out because the paper had always backed Thatcher, while the city had always been pro-Labour? - PressGazette
- Mirror Online - Sun Editor Kelvin MacKenzie Wants Hillsborough Apology from Police
- Kelvin MacKenzie Demands Apology From Police Over Hillsborough - Telegraph
- Kelvin MacKenzie Demands Hillsborough Apology from Police - Alex Thomson - Channel 4 News
- Kelvin MacKenzie Wants Payout from South Yorkshire Police Over Hillsborough - Independent
- Zelo Street: Kelvin McFilth Protests Too Much
- Kelvin MacKenzie, This is Why the Sun is 'Picked Out' Over Hillsborough - New Statesman
Reaction from South Yorkshire Police:
A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said the force "awaits Mr MacKenzie's letter with interest".
"It is well known that many media outlets ran similar stories at the time based on the same sources but chose to treat them differently," he said.
"Mr MacKenzie was responsible for the particular headline he chose to run with." - BBC News
Reaction from journalists and others on Twitter:
