Don't Buy the Sun

One thing that amazes me about Liverpool is the fact that some supporters, most of whom are not local to Liverpool, continue to buy and read the Sun newspaper. The boycott of the Sun newspaper by all Liverpool fans, and most Merseysiders regardless of their allegiances, is clear and obvious and yet some people continue to give money to the newspaper that accused Reds supporters of murdering their own.

If you continue to buy the Sun newspaper after reading this article then you might as well stop calling yourself a Reds supporter.

Four days after the Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Reds supporters lost their lives, the Sun printed outrageous lies that caused even more grief and heart-ache for the families of those who had died.

The Sun completely disregarded all standards of decency and honesty in media reporting, and decided to report some unfounded, hurting and disgusting allegations, that were later proven to be 100% false, as fact, in order to make a quick buck.

The headline on the front of the Sun (commonly referred to as "The Scum" or "The S*n" amongst Reds fans) had these claims listed underneath a banner headline of "THE TRUTH."

"Some fans picked pockets of victims. Some fans urinated on the brave cops. Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life."

None of these claims have any truth in them whatsoever. As the Taylor report later confirmed, Liverpool supporters did not cause the tradegy. It was the slow response from the police, and "the failure (by the police) to cut off access to the central pens once gate C had been opened (by the police)" that caused the overcrowding and subsequent deaths.

And yet, even after their insulting claims had been cleary proven to be entirely inaccurate, Kelvin Mackenzie, who was the editor of the Sun at the time, sticks by the scandalous lies his newspaper printed, and refuses to apologise.

Speaking at an after dinner event during 2006 Mackenzie said, "All I did wrong there was tell the truth. There was a surge of Liverpool fans who had been drinking and that is what caused the disaster. The only thing different we did was put it under the headline "The Truth". I went on "The World at One" the next day and apologised. I only did that because Rupert Murdoch told me to. I wasn't sorry then and I'm not sorry now because we told the truth."

So, Mr Mackenzie continues to hold to his insane, infantile and undoubtedly false view that drunken Liverpool fans caused the disaster. How a man like this could have such a top job as editor of a national newspaper, considering he has the intelligence of your common single celled amoeba, is beyond me.

His disgusting opinions continue to disgust and appal not only Liverpool fans but most right-minded human beings.

Why should anyone give money to a newspaper that printed such horrible lies? More specifically, why should any Liverpool supporter continue to buy a publication that accused their fellow supporters of murdering their own?

There is simply no excuse. The message is clear. DON'T BUY THE SUN.

JFT96

YNWA