This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/10/sun-election-newspaper-tabloid-corbyn

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
How the rightwing tabloids got it wrong How the rightwing tabloids got it wrong
(about 1 month later)
It was the Sun wot hung it
Will Hutton
Sun 11 Jun 2017 00.05 BST
Last modified on Sat 2 Dec 2017 03.10 GMT
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share via Email
View more sharing options
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest
Share on Google+
Share on WhatsApp
Share on Messenger
Close
The Sun is our top-selling tabloid – for which witty devotion to Toryism can trump whatever fact. But on Thursday it made a wrong call. All over the country people competed to buy as many copies as they could and then picture what they did with them. Eclipsethesun, the website created to do just that, was once the preoccupation of a fringe – but suddenly it has triggered a growing social movement.The Sun is our top-selling tabloid – for which witty devotion to Toryism can trump whatever fact. But on Thursday it made a wrong call. All over the country people competed to buy as many copies as they could and then picture what they did with them. Eclipsethesun, the website created to do just that, was once the preoccupation of a fringe – but suddenly it has triggered a growing social movement.
Many followed the logic of the headline – “Don’t chuck Britain in the COR-BIN” – and binned them. As one wrote – accompanied by pictures of the Sun in a bin – “Very reluctantly I just bought 21 copies of the Sun, emptied the whole shelf and threw them in the recycling bin. At least customers from the local Tesco will be spared from this rubbish and dishonest headline.”Many followed the logic of the headline – “Don’t chuck Britain in the COR-BIN” – and binned them. As one wrote – accompanied by pictures of the Sun in a bin – “Very reluctantly I just bought 21 copies of the Sun, emptied the whole shelf and threw them in the recycling bin. At least customers from the local Tesco will be spared from this rubbish and dishonest headline.”
Others went further “just bagged ALL free copies of the Sun at Manchester Airport – handy to take to Spain with me for puppies to do their business on“. Another wrote, “The Sun very upset that everyone’s burning copies of the the Sun – which isn’t that surprising, really.”Others went further “just bagged ALL free copies of the Sun at Manchester Airport – handy to take to Spain with me for puppies to do their business on“. Another wrote, “The Sun very upset that everyone’s burning copies of the the Sun – which isn’t that surprising, really.”
The Daily Mail is suffering a parallel fate – pictures of it being burned began to spread round the net. It is an understandable reaction to decades of both papers being shamelessly edited to manipulate opinion – the 13 pages in the Mail on the day before the election devoted to “proving” that Corbyn supported jihadist terror being a classic – but it is dangerous. If citizens burn and trash their newspapers, then part of our democratic glue is being undermined.The Daily Mail is suffering a parallel fate – pictures of it being burned began to spread round the net. It is an understandable reaction to decades of both papers being shamelessly edited to manipulate opinion – the 13 pages in the Mail on the day before the election devoted to “proving” that Corbyn supported jihadist terror being a classic – but it is dangerous. If citizens burn and trash their newspapers, then part of our democratic glue is being undermined.
Yet no account of our deep constitutional and political crisis – a prime minister who now has no mandate to negotiate the massive act of national self-harm that exit from the single market and customs union will entail is determined to do just that – is complete without recognising the role of the dominant rightwing press. It purports to speak for the country: in truth it speaks only for the right, and is edited to exclude any news, fact or opinion that does not serve the right’s interest.Yet no account of our deep constitutional and political crisis – a prime minister who now has no mandate to negotiate the massive act of national self-harm that exit from the single market and customs union will entail is determined to do just that – is complete without recognising the role of the dominant rightwing press. It purports to speak for the country: in truth it speaks only for the right, and is edited to exclude any news, fact or opinion that does not serve the right’s interest.
The Sun and Mail may want a hard Brexit and continued austerity, bullying and bamboozling Mrs May that the majority does too: but a majority in the country does not – the heart of her and her party’s dilemma. It is not the citizens’ fault that in desperation they feel their only reaction is to bin the papers that helped create this pretty pass. It is the proprietors and their editors who have so abused the role of journalism in a democracy. It has also become self-defeating. After all, it was the Sun wot hung it.The Sun and Mail may want a hard Brexit and continued austerity, bullying and bamboozling Mrs May that the majority does too: but a majority in the country does not – the heart of her and her party’s dilemma. It is not the citizens’ fault that in desperation they feel their only reaction is to bin the papers that helped create this pretty pass. It is the proprietors and their editors who have so abused the role of journalism in a democracy. It has also become self-defeating. After all, it was the Sun wot hung it.
General election 2017General election 2017
The ObserverThe Observer
The SunThe Sun
NewspapersNewspapers
Newspapers & magazinesNewspapers & magazines
National newspapersNational newspapers
Jeremy CorbynJeremy Corbyn
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content