Post by Redz on Jan 12, 2007 14:13:51 GMT
DISCREDITED former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie has changed his mind again, admitting he could have been wrong about the Hillsborough disaster.
But despite being unsure of his facts - again - the ex-Fleet Street buffoon last night refused to apologise for the hurt caused by his newspaper's lies.
Amid heated scenes on BBC's Question Time show, MacKenzie then blamed others for the disgusting claims in the story.
He claimed for the first time that two of the most notorious claims contained in the Sun article, headlined The Truth, about fans stealing from the dead bodies and urinating on them, had come from a Liverpool news agency, a Tory MP and a senior police officer, all un-named.
In an astonishing admission, even though he admitted he did not know whether these claims were true he refused a challenge by Question Time presenter David Dimbleby and panellists to apologise for the article that appeared after the tragedy, in which 96 people died.
Former Labour MP Claire Short told MacKenzie: "You've hurt so many people. Why don't you just apologise?"
But MacKenzie, now a columnist on The Sun, remained defiant. While he admitted Liverpool fans were angry with him, he said: "They want to find somebody who caused the disaster.
"It's become so caught up in a battle between Liverpool FC and me that no matter what I said now, it wouldn't resolve the issue."
He also repeated publicly that he apologised at the time only because he was ordered to by Sun proprietor Rupert Murdoch.
MacKenzie's comments came less than a week after more than 40,000 Liverpool fans staged an emotional protest at the start of Liverpool's FA Cup tie against Arsenal, which was screened on BBC1.
For six minutes at the start of the game, chants of "Justice for the 96" filled the stadium. The protest was organised by fans who were angered at the BBC's decision to hire MacKenzie despite revelations last month that he stood by the paper's infamous coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.
It was revealed that MacKenzie had told a crowd of businessmen: "I was not sorry then and I'm not sorry now."
He said The Sun had only reported "the truth" when it accused fans of stealing from and urinating on the dead despite Lord Justice Taylor's report on the disaster discrediting such reports.
Claims are denied by agency
CHRIS Johnson, editor of Mercury, the only remaining press agency in Liverpool, today angrily denied Mr MacKenzie's claims.
He said: "I will be examining what he said and consulting with my lawyers as there may be a case of defamation.
"I will state categorically that Mercury Press Agency had no part whatsoever in any word that was printed in that Sun article.
"There was more than one press agency operating in Liverpool at that time and we covered Hillsborough at the Liverpool end, not Sheffield.
"I don't know why he should choose this time to apportion or spread the blame to other people.
"He should name this Liverpool press agency and give them the opportunity to confirm or deny that they were involved in the story, and explain their part in it.
"We had a reporter at Hillsborough on the day and he was so traumatised by what he'd seen that he wasn't able to file copy for 48 hours."
A news agency is an independent organisation which sells stories and information to the media, including newspapers, TV and radio.
The Liverpool ECHO is not and never has been a news agency.
But despite being unsure of his facts - again - the ex-Fleet Street buffoon last night refused to apologise for the hurt caused by his newspaper's lies.
Amid heated scenes on BBC's Question Time show, MacKenzie then blamed others for the disgusting claims in the story.
He claimed for the first time that two of the most notorious claims contained in the Sun article, headlined The Truth, about fans stealing from the dead bodies and urinating on them, had come from a Liverpool news agency, a Tory MP and a senior police officer, all un-named.
In an astonishing admission, even though he admitted he did not know whether these claims were true he refused a challenge by Question Time presenter David Dimbleby and panellists to apologise for the article that appeared after the tragedy, in which 96 people died.
Former Labour MP Claire Short told MacKenzie: "You've hurt so many people. Why don't you just apologise?"
But MacKenzie, now a columnist on The Sun, remained defiant. While he admitted Liverpool fans were angry with him, he said: "They want to find somebody who caused the disaster.
"It's become so caught up in a battle between Liverpool FC and me that no matter what I said now, it wouldn't resolve the issue."
He also repeated publicly that he apologised at the time only because he was ordered to by Sun proprietor Rupert Murdoch.
MacKenzie's comments came less than a week after more than 40,000 Liverpool fans staged an emotional protest at the start of Liverpool's FA Cup tie against Arsenal, which was screened on BBC1.
For six minutes at the start of the game, chants of "Justice for the 96" filled the stadium. The protest was organised by fans who were angered at the BBC's decision to hire MacKenzie despite revelations last month that he stood by the paper's infamous coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.
It was revealed that MacKenzie had told a crowd of businessmen: "I was not sorry then and I'm not sorry now."
He said The Sun had only reported "the truth" when it accused fans of stealing from and urinating on the dead despite Lord Justice Taylor's report on the disaster discrediting such reports.
Claims are denied by agency
CHRIS Johnson, editor of Mercury, the only remaining press agency in Liverpool, today angrily denied Mr MacKenzie's claims.
He said: "I will be examining what he said and consulting with my lawyers as there may be a case of defamation.
"I will state categorically that Mercury Press Agency had no part whatsoever in any word that was printed in that Sun article.
"There was more than one press agency operating in Liverpool at that time and we covered Hillsborough at the Liverpool end, not Sheffield.
"I don't know why he should choose this time to apportion or spread the blame to other people.
"He should name this Liverpool press agency and give them the opportunity to confirm or deny that they were involved in the story, and explain their part in it.
"We had a reporter at Hillsborough on the day and he was so traumatised by what he'd seen that he wasn't able to file copy for 48 hours."
A news agency is an independent organisation which sells stories and information to the media, including newspapers, TV and radio.
The Liverpool ECHO is not and never has been a news agency.