quote:
This explains a little about it. Good on Liverpool fans the media in the country have a free for all on anything they want and nothing is done about them. They will do anything or make up anything to sell papers.
Hillsborough
The worst moment journalistically for The Sun's sensationalism was its coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster in Sheffield, where 96 people died and 730 were injured. Under a banner of the headline "THE TRUTH" the paper published a number of lies about the disaster, including the allegations that "Some fans picked pockets of victims" and "Some fans urinated on the brave cops" and "Some fans beat up a Police Constable whilst he was administering the kiss of life to a patient" (19 April 1989). This caused outrage amongst the people of Liverpool and the paper still sells poorly in the city today. It is unavailable in many parts of the city, as many newsagents refuse to stock it.
Eddie Spearitt, who lost his son in the tragedy, said, "As I lay in my hospital bed, the hospital staff kept copies of The Sun away from me. It's bad enough when you lose your fourteen-year-old son because you're treating him to a football match. But since then I've had to defend him against all the rubbish printed by The Sun." Pilger article The Sun made a full page 'apology' on July 7, 2004 15 years after the disaster, which featured Liverpudlian Wayne Rooney. This has been criticised by some as self-serving.[11]
On January 16, 2006 a Judge ruled that a libel case against The Sun should be moved from Liverpool to Manchester. The libel case was brought against The Sun by a 50 year old Merseyside grandmother who claims The Sun slandered her by accusing her of being a prostitute. Lawyers for The Sun argued for the case to be held in London claiming they would not receive a fair hearing in Liverpool due to the continued resentment over its coverage of the Hillsborough disaster 16 years previous. The ramifications of the decision effectively rules that journalists writing for The Sun would never have to back up their mass-printed and nationally circulated accusations against a resident of Merseyside in a Liverpool court.