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The frontpage of The Sun newspaper days after the disaster containing allegations that were later proved to be entirely false. Wikimedia Commons

Hillsborough: MacKenzie apologises for Sun's 'The Truth' headline

The former editor of The Sun newspaper said he was “totally misled” into running the story, families of the 96 victims of the stadium disaster said it was “too little, too late” from the “clever lowlife”.

THE EDITOR OF Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid The Sun at the time of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster apologised on Wednesday for a running a story 23 years ago that blamed fans for the tragedy.

Kelvin MacKenzie said he had been “totally misled” into running a front-page story with the headline “The Truth”, together with false claims that supporters picked the pockets of victims and urinated on police.

“Today I offer my profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool for that headline,” he said in a statement issued hours after an independent panel published a report revealing a huge police cover-up of the tragedy.

“It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline The Lies rather than The Truth.

“I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong.”

MacKenzie said he had based the story on a dispatch from a local news agency in Sheffield, the city where Hillsborough stadium is located, that quoted a senior police officer and a lawmaker making the allegations.

“I had absolutely no reason to believe that these authority figures would lie and deceive over such a disaster,” he said.

“Too little, too late”

British Prime Minster David Cameron apologised today to the families of the 96 victims for the “double injustice” they suffered due to the cover-up and to official failings on the day of the tragedy.

Families of the victims in Liverpool — where there is still a widespread boycott of The Sun, Britain’s best-selling newspaper — said the apology was not enough.

Trevor Hicks of the Hillsborough Families Support Group said it was “too little, too late” and called MacKenzie “lowlife, clever lowlife, but lowlife”.

MacKenzie edited The Sun from 1981 to 1994.

Media tycoon Murdoch’s British newspaper empire has been in crisis since he was forced to close The Sun’s weekly sister paper, the News of the World, in July 2011 after a scandal over the illegal hacking of mobile phone voicemails.

- (c) AFP 2012

Read: “41 people might have survived” – the Hillsborough report’s findings

Read: The front page of this evening’s Liverpool Echo special Hillsborough edition

In full: The Report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel

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    Mute Nigel Farrell
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:21 PM

    23 years too late.

    172
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    Mute James O Donoghue
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:56 PM

    Is it possible to have these horrible tabloids shut down now ?? Always was gutter journalism.

    NEVER BUY TABLOIDS

    195
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    Mute Andy Murray
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    Sep 12th 2012, 8:09 PM

    The only thing worse than tabloids are “celebrity magazines”. Making the population stupider one pointless article at a time.

    79
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    Mute Damien Aulsberry
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:26 PM

    ROT IN HELL McKenzie!

    150
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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Sep 13th 2012, 7:57 AM

    Barn doors open….horses bolting everywhere. A forced apology if ever there was. What is it with the British system whereby a event occurs, then there’s denial on the part of the system, a sham enquiry is set up, eventually the truth comes out, a real enquiry occurs and it’s apologies all around.

    8
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    Mute Rob Magee
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:28 PM

    Too late McKenzie

    I would tell you to rot in hell but hell is too good a place for you and your rag

    119
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    Mute gareth richardson
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:30 PM

    I feel nothing but contempt and disgust for this man.. He had all of 23 years to make amends for what was a disgusting headline and sub headings. Indeed he is only apologising now because the wiightbof public opinion has finally been brought to bear on him and his kind.. Shame too on Tony Blair and his so called progressive new labour who could have acted on this many years ago.

    112
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    Mute Austin Mooney
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:29 PM

    Your sorry now that the truth is out 23yrs to late. Go grovel some where else

    103
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    Mute Alan McEvoy
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:35 PM

    Damage limitations from McKenzie. He has previously said he wasn’t sorry at the time and he wasn’t sorry now. Th only thing that has changed is that he realises this position is no longer tenable in the light of the events today. Self preservation rather than genuine remorse to try salvage his media career.

    100
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    Mute John Drennan
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:33 PM

    Sorry now that the truth is out. What a disgrace of a man to try and clear his conscience the same day those poor families have finally had the real “truth” revealed

    92
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    Mute Mark
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:43 PM

    Shut that rag down. Useless paper.

    81
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    Mute Trisha Brennan
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:42 PM

    Too little, too late. He can shove it where it hurts.

    67
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    Mute Gussy Hughes
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    Sep 12th 2012, 8:04 PM

    What sort of clowns would red thumb this comment??

    29
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    Mute William Grogan
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    Sep 13th 2012, 1:22 AM

    They probably think it’s rude.

    2
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    Mute Mark McGrail
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    Sep 12th 2012, 6:04 PM

    and Scousers never buy THE SUN

    66
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    Mute rodrigo detriano
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    Sep 12th 2012, 6:46 PM

    That statements not entirely true Mark.

    11
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    Mute Trisha Brennan
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    Sep 12th 2012, 9:28 PM

    A lot of Irish people don’t buy the rag either. :)

    28
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    Mute @AidanSmith1994
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:36 PM

    Sorry means nothing to these people who have suffered. Absolute disgrace of a man. Glad the truth has finally come out and I hope it gives a degree of comfort to the families involved.

    63
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    Mute DK Innovation
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:46 PM

    It is one think to get it from MacKenzie, but how about The Sun and Murdoch… Those are the ones that profitted the most from the excuse of journalism…

    Question has to be asked? Who buys The Sun?

    61
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    Mute Alan McEvoy
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:50 PM

    The Sun is an Anti-Irish rag. Nobody should buy it.

    109
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    Mute Mick Lennon
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:56 PM

    disgusting rat McKenzie,lowest of the low and I wouldn’t wipe me arse with that rag of a paper

    59
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    Mute Marist '59
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    Sep 12th 2012, 6:35 PM

    Hopefully, Margaret Thatcher’s hand in the cover up will also be exposed.

    58
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    Mute Enda McCabe
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    Sep 12th 2012, 7:27 PM
    14
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    Mute Richard Day
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    Sep 12th 2012, 9:25 PM

    Nope, reckon that was the buy off for today’s result. Somehow MT is sacracent. Pity she didn’t think much else was…

    7
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    Mute THE GRINDER
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:52 PM

    I hope now that I wont ever have to listen to that p***k on tv or radio EVER again. It should be the end of his media career.

    56
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    Mute Seán Cafferkey
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    Sep 12th 2012, 6:14 PM

    He can shove that apology where The Sun doesn’t shine

    52
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    Mute Mark Nolan
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    Sep 12th 2012, 8:57 PM

    A poor excuse for a man, this apology is as ‘sincere’ as his 1994 one, which he retracted in 2006, blaming pressure from Murdock to express it. My one wish is that the rest of the media world would stop giving him any airtime, stop using him, cut off any oxygen for this low life piece of filth.

    30
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    Mute Roddie Cleere
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    Sep 13th 2012, 8:40 AM

    Agreed. As expressed in my comment below

    1
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    Mute Edward Carr
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    Sep 12th 2012, 6:29 PM

    to little to late by all of them shame on all who failed the victims and there familys

    30
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    Mute Conor Conneally
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    Sep 12th 2012, 9:49 PM

    Who buys the Irish Sun?

    17
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    Mute Brendan Cox
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    Sep 12th 2012, 7:09 PM

    Journalists should have to be able to prove a story before its printed… if you have only a source it should not be enough. You should be able to prove in a court of law the accuracy of the story… not just claim that a source is “reliable” and hide behind that sources anonymity.

    16
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    Mute Dave Fingleton
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    Sep 12th 2012, 8:33 PM

    Does anybody remember that episode of “cracker” from the nineties where a character played by Robert Carlisle, a liverpool fan, blows up the hq of the sun?..classic…fictional story but gave a good insight into the anger of the regular people of liverpool over what had happened. Sooner the better the sun and their tabloid ilk go out of business. Not likely to happen but…

    36
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    Mute Bill Keogh
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    Sep 12th 2012, 8:48 PM

    stamp the dirt down on gutter press

    15
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    Mute Alan Murphy
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    Sep 12th 2012, 11:43 PM

    He knew the truth 23 years ago, had no choice but to say what he did today. Filth is all he is

    11
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    Mute Timmy O Toole
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    Sep 12th 2012, 11:18 PM

    Just read his wikipedia page. A truly wretched organism.

    11
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    Mute Gaius Gracchus
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    Sep 13th 2012, 12:03 AM

    How can MacKenzie get up in the morning and function as a normal member of society

    7
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    Mute Rory Conway
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:52 PM

    DK, we are reading here about people losing their lives and you want to know who buys a newspaper. Suggest you recalibrate your priorities , boy.

    4
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    Mute Alan McEvoy
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    Sep 12th 2012, 5:56 PM

    The story is about The Sun and its editor at the time. Its a very relevant question.

    104
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    Mute Stadler Waldorf
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    Sep 12th 2012, 6:26 PM

    Rory it’s about trolling the relatives of the dead, which is what MacKenzie did that day. It showed complete disrespect for the victims and their families.

    54
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    Mute Anne-Marie Kenneally
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    Sep 13th 2012, 12:23 AM

    79 red thumbs? Seriously? I reckon there’s one plonker with a bit of technology and no life whatever doing all the red thumbs, hoping to be the 1st troll to “make it!” I wonder what trolls are when they grow up. Tabloid journos?

    10
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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Sep 13th 2012, 10:50 AM

    Eight and a half thousand days too late. McKenzie’s not a bit sorry for “The Truth”. He’s just sorry he has to apologise for his disgusting collusion in a lie.

    3
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    Mute Roddie Cleere
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    Sep 13th 2012, 8:39 AM

    Have seen this festering piece of filth on the “This Morning” tv show. He’s the kind of person who likes to put others down at any opportunity. I hope the full weight of justice flattens him.

    3
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    Mute William Grogan
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    Sep 13th 2012, 1:25 AM

    Obviously a lot of people still buy The Sun or it would go bust. Reading age of 12 required if I remember.

    3
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