So, press regulator, IPSO, has ruled that Jeremy Clarkson discriminated against Meghan Markle in his column in The Sun that promoted “hatred” of her with a series of sexist tropes.
So what? It’s not nearly enough.
25,100 people complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation about the column, written by Jeremy Clarkson on December 18 2022.
Six months later, IPSO has found that the article made a ‘pejorative and prejudicial reference’ to the Duchess of Sussex’s sex.
Shockingly, this is the first time in IPSO’s entire history that it has upheld a complaint of sexism against any newspaper.
But as pointed out by Hacked Off, the campaign for a more responsible press, it’s not enough – because this decision doesn’t require any further action from The Sun, beyond the publication of an adjudication inside the paper.
Alice Watkins for Hacked Off said,
“The individuals responsible for the decision to publish this article have not and will not face any regulatory sanction at all.
“Plenty of senior figures at The Sun could have stopped the publication of this piece. None did.
“Fundamentally, this piece was allowed to be published because the press is not properly regulated.”
She added, “If IPSO were the tough regulator it claims to be, The Sun and those individuals responsible would be facing sanctions. It would have taken action sooner, and not waited six months to reach a decision.”
This is what I wrote at the time of Clarkson’s reprehensible column. I stand by every word:
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝘁.
Newspaper hate has become the ruination of Britain.
Whether it’s Jeremy Clarkson writing that he hates Meghan Markle so much he wants her to parade naked whilst having excrement thrown at her, or Katie Hopkins writing that she hates refugees so much that she considers them to be cockroaches.
These obscene, despicable, hateful, loathsome thoughts, broadcast to millions by national newspapers, represent our country reaching rock-bottom.
Newspaper hate has led directly to irrational hostility against migrants, against Meghan, against anyone and anything that fall foul of someone’s twisted mind with access to the media.
Until we can stop the newspaper and online rot, we’re all swimming in a quagmire of rancorous, venomous soup that destroys logical thinking and creates a society that is based on repugnance, resentment, and revenge.
Is that really what we want?
