On 7 July 2023, The Sunpublished an article sharing the story of two parents who were accusing a BBC presenter of paying their son over £35K for explicit pictures.
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Following the article, days of allegations and media frenzy arose. Online several BBC presenters were subjected to violent accusations.
However those stopped when, in the evening of 12 July 2023, MET police released a statement concluding that ‘no criminal offense has been committed.’ Within the hour of this statement being release, the wife of BBC presenter Huw Edwards released a statement of her own.
In it, she names her husband as the presenter accused.
The statement from MET police places the investigation back into the hands of the BBC and triggered a lot of questions about The Sun’s legitimacy in this affair.
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Since the news came out that Huw Edwards was the presenter who The Sun was talking about in their original article, there have been many commentators. Whether they are on social media or on TV, a lot of people have a lot to say.
Last night, BBC Newsnight focused a good part of its air time talking about the scandal. To do so, the show hosted by Victoria Derbyshire invited several people including The Sun columnist Rod Little. In his interview Little defends The Sun saying the publication ‘has behaved impeccably throughout this.’
His involvement on Newsnight left viewers angry and they let it be known on Twitter. They challenge the fact that Little can defend the publication when he is himself known to have made questionable comments about underage people.
As Sun columnist Rod Liddle is brought onto Newsnight to talk about Huw Edwards' alleged behaviour towards young people, here's a reminder of what he's written himself on the subject. pic.twitter.com/eaFwg5rFtJ
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) July 12, 2023
Read more:
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Moreover, The Sun is reputed for being a place where ‘polimicists’ can publish their opinion. Just last month (June 2023) The Sun had to publish a ‘statement’ on its front page concerning a column written by Jeremy Clarkson. His column was ruled as ‘discriminatory’ by a press regulator.
In his column, Clarkson wrote about his ‘hatred’ of Meghan Markle and that he dreams of the day ‘when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.’ The Independent Press Standards Organisation concluded that his column was sexist.
The Sun voted the least trusted news outlet in Britain
Following the controversy many opinions have been issued concerning The Sun’s behaviour.
For Rod Little the publication:
has behaved impeccably throughout this. It has done so with a degree of measured carefulness
While for Jacqui Hames, former police officer and journalist who was also interviewed in BBC NewsNight on 12 July, The Sun is ‘the dominator and dictator of the news agenda in this country.’
On top of this attention regarding the Huw Edwards scandal a poll from YouGov was published on 11 July reporting thatThe Sun is the least trusted news outlet. The poll reveals that The Sun’s credibility is lower than the one of the Daily Mail and The Mirror with a staggering -53.
Britons' top 3 most trusted news outlets (net score)
— YouGov (@YouGov) July 11, 2023
FT: +30
ITV: +28
Channel 4: +27
Britons' top 3 least trusted news outlets
The Sun: -53
The Star: -50
The Mirror / The Mail: both -37https://t.co/qWSGmIO2TUpic.twitter.com/HDyMDTFP39
Finally, if The Sun may not have done anything illegal as the publication didn’t name the presenter, Nigel Farage points out that their article still rang the end of Huw Edwards' career. On GB News he said:
this is effectively the end of Huw Edwards’ career
And asks a question that is most relevant:
Has the Sun done the right thing?
Read more:
⋙ BBC presenter scandal: Who is Tim Davie the Director general of the channel?
Sources:
The Guardian: Jeremy Clarkson’s Sun article on Meghan was sexist, says press regulator
Daily Mail: Police investigating claims about BBC presenter revealed to be Huw Edwards say 'no offence has been committed' and they are taking no further action into '£35k sex scandal' claims
The London Economic: The Sun voted the least trusted news outlet in Britain
ITV News: The Sun says it has no plans to publish further allegations about BBC presenter Huw Edwards
