By Kevin Maxwell
As The Sun newspaper prepares to publish The Sun on Sunday tomorrow, it reminds me of my negative experience with the tabloid which in part was publicised earlier this week through other matters.
It was on 24 July 2010 whilst I was in Regent’s Park (Central London), that I was made aware by email and telephone that The Sun was going to run a negative story about me the following working day(s).
This was because I had challenged discrimination in the workplace, even though The Sun was not my workplace or employer. It did not know the full facts of my experiences or circumstances, but chose to discredit me through negative reporting.
I was told that Anthony France the Crime Reporter with The Sun unlawfully possessed my private data. I was/am neither a celebrity or politician (who also have a right to privacy), and was not in the public limelight in any way, shape or form. I had no blog, I did no writing and so forth. These came as a result of my experiences.
Challenging discrimination in the workplace… was my only crime.
When The Sun obtained the information about my complaints of racism and homophobia at work, they weren’t even in the public domain – they were private at the time, only known by a handful of people. It hadn’t been decided at this point by the courts, how my case would proceed.
Knowing that Anthony France and his Editor Dominic Mohan were going to run a negative story about me because I challenged the things I saw and heard in the workplace, was devastating to say the least. It has had a profound effect on me.
This wasn’t because of the lies The Sun would print about me (I expected nothing less being Liverpudlian, Gay & Black), but because it was NOT for The Sun to reveal publicly my mental health status, sexuality and sensitive job to its readers. That was my right.
I challenged The Sun by contacting the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) among others, to try to stop the story from being published about me – but, even this proved pointless. Despite me providing Dominic Mohan with a statement saying that a story revealing my sexuality and mental status would cause me great upset and distress, his paper continued to prepare to print researching me further.
The Sun knew more about my case for discrimination, than I did. The irony.
My depression was private, and my sexuality (although no secret to my friends) wasn’t something I shouted about from the rooftops. I kept myself to myself. I am not the first person though, The Sun has caused great harm too.
At the same time as my ordeal with the newspaper, I read about an Asian female whom The Sun had done the same to and published about her being away from the same workplace as me with depression.
How is it in the public interest to declare a person’s medical status in a national newspaper?
I was sent a letter from a member of the public I did not know who told me he was appalled about what he had learned with regards to me, The Sun and the female mentioned above. Anthony France (the journalist) wrote back to this person disagreeing with how The Sun went about things and in particular saying… “if someone is bullied, they should sue” – as in, because she hadn’t this meant she wasn’t bullied. I can’t think of anything more grotesque.
How many people have the courage and support, to challenge discrimination? Not a lot, I would have thought.
Anthony France stated to the member of public who wrote in to him that The Sun doesn’t belittle cases of racism etc, yet it did exactly that with me. Earlier this week, an employment tribunal ruled I was unlawfully discriminated against by my employer – where is The Sun’s support in stamping out all forms of discrimination? Nowhere.
Anthony France goes further in his communication that the female’s story who suffered depression like me was “news” because he as a taxpayer, was funding her whilst she sat at home ill. I was sat at home ill through no fault of my own, but received no salary. I had to claim state benefits and felt ashamed and humiliated because I had worked all my life.
The Sun publishes what it wants people to believe, not the truth.
In justifying the information leaked to him (like me) about this female, Anthony France goes further… “I’ll leave it to Sun readers – the best in the world – to make their own conclusions.”
I find it arrogant that The Sun will publish a person’s mental illness because she too challenged discrimination in the workplace together with other personal information, and all he can say is that he will let the public decide. By publishing such a detrimental article, The Sun had already dammed the female negatively.
I pushed and pushed with the Press Complaints Commission to bring The Sun to book, but they haven’t to date. I have just learned that the officer at the commission who was dealing with my case and whom I sent my private information to now works for a member of the Murdoch family – Rupert Murdoch owns News International, which owns The Sun...read more
http://blog.kevinmaxwell.co.uk/2012/02/is-the-sun-a-star/
As The Sun newspaper prepares to publish The Sun on Sunday tomorrow, it reminds me of my negative experience with the tabloid which in part was publicised earlier this week through other matters.
It was on 24 July 2010 whilst I was in Regent’s Park (Central London), that I was made aware by email and telephone that The Sun was going to run a negative story about me the following working day(s).
This was because I had challenged discrimination in the workplace, even though The Sun was not my workplace or employer. It did not know the full facts of my experiences or circumstances, but chose to discredit me through negative reporting.
I was told that Anthony France the Crime Reporter with The Sun unlawfully possessed my private data. I was/am neither a celebrity or politician (who also have a right to privacy), and was not in the public limelight in any way, shape or form. I had no blog, I did no writing and so forth. These came as a result of my experiences.
Challenging discrimination in the workplace… was my only crime.
When The Sun obtained the information about my complaints of racism and homophobia at work, they weren’t even in the public domain – they were private at the time, only known by a handful of people. It hadn’t been decided at this point by the courts, how my case would proceed.
Knowing that Anthony France and his Editor Dominic Mohan were going to run a negative story about me because I challenged the things I saw and heard in the workplace, was devastating to say the least. It has had a profound effect on me.
This wasn’t because of the lies The Sun would print about me (I expected nothing less being Liverpudlian, Gay & Black), but because it was NOT for The Sun to reveal publicly my mental health status, sexuality and sensitive job to its readers. That was my right.
I challenged The Sun by contacting the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) among others, to try to stop the story from being published about me – but, even this proved pointless. Despite me providing Dominic Mohan with a statement saying that a story revealing my sexuality and mental status would cause me great upset and distress, his paper continued to prepare to print researching me further.
The Sun knew more about my case for discrimination, than I did. The irony.
My depression was private, and my sexuality (although no secret to my friends) wasn’t something I shouted about from the rooftops. I kept myself to myself. I am not the first person though, The Sun has caused great harm too.
At the same time as my ordeal with the newspaper, I read about an Asian female whom The Sun had done the same to and published about her being away from the same workplace as me with depression.
How is it in the public interest to declare a person’s medical status in a national newspaper?
I was sent a letter from a member of the public I did not know who told me he was appalled about what he had learned with regards to me, The Sun and the female mentioned above. Anthony France (the journalist) wrote back to this person disagreeing with how The Sun went about things and in particular saying… “if someone is bullied, they should sue” – as in, because she hadn’t this meant she wasn’t bullied. I can’t think of anything more grotesque.
How many people have the courage and support, to challenge discrimination? Not a lot, I would have thought.
Anthony France stated to the member of public who wrote in to him that The Sun doesn’t belittle cases of racism etc, yet it did exactly that with me. Earlier this week, an employment tribunal ruled I was unlawfully discriminated against by my employer – where is The Sun’s support in stamping out all forms of discrimination? Nowhere.
Anthony France goes further in his communication that the female’s story who suffered depression like me was “news” because he as a taxpayer, was funding her whilst she sat at home ill. I was sat at home ill through no fault of my own, but received no salary. I had to claim state benefits and felt ashamed and humiliated because I had worked all my life.
The Sun publishes what it wants people to believe, not the truth.
In justifying the information leaked to him (like me) about this female, Anthony France goes further… “I’ll leave it to Sun readers – the best in the world – to make their own conclusions.”
I find it arrogant that The Sun will publish a person’s mental illness because she too challenged discrimination in the workplace together with other personal information, and all he can say is that he will let the public decide. By publishing such a detrimental article, The Sun had already dammed the female negatively.
I pushed and pushed with the Press Complaints Commission to bring The Sun to book, but they haven’t to date. I have just learned that the officer at the commission who was dealing with my case and whom I sent my private information to now works for a member of the Murdoch family – Rupert Murdoch owns News International, which owns The Sun...read more
