Editorials

Why You Should Never Buy the Sun

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9 January 2018

By Bronwen

The Sun is one of the most problematic newspapers in Britain. Countless campaigns and petitions have been created to ban the Sun but despite this, it still has a readership of 2.7 million Brits. Most shops in Liverpool refuse to sell the newspaper as their city has a particularly bad history with the Sun. I, like thousands of others, would never pick up a copy of the Sun even if it was being given away for free. I don’t even read articles on the Sun website or watch its videos on Facebook to show solidarity to the many people this paper has hurt. Here’s why you should boycott the Sun too:

1- In 1989, a few short days after the Hillsborough Disaster which killed 96 football fans, the Sun printed an article titled ‘The Truth’ on its front page.

The article claimed that the Liverpool fans were urinating on police officers who were trying to help, stole from the pockets of the dead bodies and were drunk and disorderly. It blamed the Liverpool fans for the entire disaster so that police and emergency services wouldn’t be held accountable. We now know that careless police instruction and the unsafe layout of the stadium were to blame for the disaster- not the Liverpool fans. This false reporting not only damaged the reputation of Liverpool- it was immensely traumatising for the families of the victims.

2- Throughout the 1980s, the Sun painted the miners who were on strike as a bunch of thugs and spread classist lies to try and reduce public support to the miners. It supported Thatcher and her scheme to starve the miners back into working in unsafe and poor conditions for a pittance.

3- A long history of classism, racism, transphobia, homophobia and discrimination against those with mental health. Rather than explain, I’ll let the Sun’s front pages do the talking.

The Sun does not care about facts. It is a divisive -and at most times false- publication that no self-respecting person should ever buy.

 

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