October 31st, 20125 of the Most Controversial Tabloid Headlines
From The Sun to The News of the World, there has always been a huge amount of controversy surrounding the tabloids and their respective headlines. Whether the paper is owned by Murdoch or not, the papers love to cause some stir. But, as we’ve seen in recent times, they can go too far and cause genuine anguish for innocent people. Here’s a look at some of the most controversial tabloid headlines ever.
Hillsborough Disaster
credit: Eric The Fish
Unless you’ve been lying under a rock for the past few months, you will already be aware of the recent developments regarding the infamous Hillsborough disaster. This is not an article to go into the issues surrounding the police and the cover-up, but this is an article which can look at The Sun’s headline and analyse the controversy surrounding it.
The headline, after the disaster, read: “The Truth”. The headline suggested and claimed that fans were urinating upon the police officers when fellow fans were trying to survive. The headline also claimed that Liverpool fans were picking the pockets of the victims. The paper has been condemned by Liverpool supporters ever since for effectively lying about the events that day, and after the recent announcement that there was a cover-up and that The Sun were wrong, it’s sparked outrage from the families of the 96 who died and most of the country.
Jeremy Clarkson
When The Mirror published information regarding Jeremy Clarkson’s private life in the early 2000s, the legendary Top Gear presenter wasn’t just annoyed; he was livid! Such was the controversy surrounding the stories that Clarkson actually punched Piers Morgan (the then editor of the paper) at an event.
The two have never got on, but the continued stories regarding Clarkson’s life, and whether he actually wrote the column he had in The Sun took him over the edge. Rightly or wrongly, he flipped. The majority, however, would probably love to put Piers in his place.
Western Intelligence
“Africans are less intelligent than Westerners,” was the headline from The Independent in 2007. The claim was made by James Watson, a scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. His theory suggested that westerns were more intelligent than Africans and, because of his work in DNA; many could have been tempted to believe him purely off one statement. It caused serious uproar and we’re sure Watson is continuing to regret the statement as he’s probably not very welcome in many countries now.
Kate Middleton
credit: Tom Soper Photography
Poor Kate; she’s becoming one of the most in-demand royals in the history of the monarchy, thanks to her recent marriage to Prince William and the fact that she’s a good looking girl. Like Princess Diana before her, the media are absolutely obsessed with everything Kate, and this was proven a few weeks ago when an Italian newspaper posted pictures of a topless future Princess on their front page with the headline: “Court Scandal: The Queen is Nude.” Controversy is fine, but isn’t this taking things too far?
Philadelphia Daily News
Michael Vick is an American football player, but he’s probably now more famous for being caught red-handed as a dogfighting ring leader. That’s right; the man was earning millions and yet still decided it’d be fun to go ahead and become the Don King of dogfighting.
Clearly, this act is illegal and he was sent to jail, but this Philadelphia tabloid decided to post the headline of ‘Top Dog’ when Vick was picked to play for his team after the debacle. It caused controversy because it almost hints as a positive gesture towards Vick – something many people still haven’t forgotten to this day!
Written and produced by a broadsheet newspaper reader at printer cartridge stockists, PrinterInks.com.
