“Utterly disingenuous” of The Sun to claim they did not suggest illegality in BBC presenter story
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The Sun last night released a statement in light of the news that Huw Edwards is not facing police action, and has been hospitalised with a mental health crisis.
The Sun said, in its statement,
“We must also re-emphasise that The Sun at no point in our original story alleged criminality…
“Suggestions about possible criminality were first made at a later date by other media outlets…”
Three days ago, The Sun published an article headlined:
“BBC SEX PROBE: Top BBC star who ‘paid child for sex pictures’ could be charged by cops and face years in prison, expert says”.
Commenting, Hacked Off Chief Executive Nathan Sparkes said,
“It is utterly disingenuous for The Sun to now try to walk back the suggestions of criminality which have appeared in their newspaper, targeted at the presenter we now know to be Huw Edwards, in light of the police announcement that he has no case to answer.
The substance, evidential basis, and public interest justification for this story now all look weaker than ever.
A man has been hospitalised, his family has been destroyed, a young person has seen their drug addiction issue and family estrangement splashed across the newspapers for the world to pick over. Whatever further emerges in this story, and if The Sun has further public interest justifications or evidence of genuine wrongdoing they are hiding it very well, this episode demonstrates the extraordinary power the press has inflict harm against people, and underlines the urgent need for an independent system of regulation as recommended in the Leveson Report”.
Contact: press@hackinginquiry.org
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Honestly! I say Nathan Sparkes’ analysis is nonsense. Huw Edwards had enormous power. He behaved in a manner – whether legal or not – which many/most people would consider offensive. It was an abuse of power, or so it seems. One can be sad at his downfall and one will never forget his brilliance, but it is ridiculous to be blaming The Sun. The Sun did exactly what many/most people consider newspapers ought to be doing. With every such ludicrous argument, Hacked Off’s pure and unadulterated hatred of Murdoch blurs its common sense. Hacked Off does not deserve the attention it gets. It suffers from a sickness which has blunted its work for years.