Dear Mr Clifford,
On a day when other organisations were apologising for their actions before, during and after the Hillsborough Tragedy, the lack of any apology from the Sheffield Star is conspicuous by its absence.
The Sun Newspaper have apologised unreservedly for their reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy and described it as "the blackest day in this newspaper's history". However late and hollow this apology is I am saddened and disappointed to see that the Sheffield Star has made no reference to its own reporting of the tragedy.
Under the front page headline "Fans in Drunken Attacks on Police: Ticketless thugs staged crush to gain entry" your newspaper reported the allegations of the police which have now been entirely discredited. Yet the Sheffield Star has chosen to make no reference to this in the days following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report.
Although the Sheffield Star's reporting may have been made with a "lesser degree of certainty" to that of the Sunâs, the fact remains that these lies were printed on the front page, under a headline which forced these untruths firmly into the public eye.
The Hillsborough Independent Panel found no evidence to support the story that your newspaper ran on the 18th April 1989 and yet your organisation has done nothing to distance itself or apologise for reporting these lies.
It is almost beyond belief that in May 2012 you saw fit publish an apology to âSheffield United Football Club, its fans and people who were upset by thisâ for an advert placed in your newspaper by Sheffield Wednesday supporters mocking Sheffield Unitedâs inability to gain promotion, and yet you have chosen to ignore the hurt and upset that you caused the families and friends of the 96 dead, and the people of Liverpool, by your reporting of the despicable lies surrounding the events of this day.
Many Sheffield organisations have come under the spotlight as a result of the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report, and most have had the dignity and grace to apologise for the part that they played in the disaster. Today your organisation should feel ashamed that you have not sought to do the same.
M Cox
Sheffield
The Sheffield Star 18/04/1989;
http://hillsborough.independent.gov....0000030001.pdf
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