It has taken 27 years for justice to be done.
The families of the 96 Liverpool fans killed at Hillsborough on that dark day in April 1989 have fought relentlessly for truth.
They always knew what really happened that day. But the darkest of conspiracies was cooked up by police and elements in the media to smear and blacken the name of fans killed and injured in the pens of the Leppings Lane End.
But finally a verdict of unlawful killing was returned at the Hillsborough inquest after two years of evidence: the police were at fault and fan behaviour did not contribute to the disaster.
This landmark verdict and what it means for families, fans and the whole British establishment is huge news.
It was splashed across every newspaper front page in the UK, from the Liverpool Echo to the Daily Mirror.
Special late edition of the ECHO. Staff privileged to be working today #JFT96 pic.twitter.com/1g2WnTPcLA
— Liverpool Echo (@LivEchonews) April 26, 2016
But there were two glaring exceptions that did not have this most historic judicial decisions on the front cover of their publications.
The Sun and the Times. There’s not even a mention of Hillsborough on either.
Wednesday's Times front page:
Tycoon's knighthood at risk over BHS collapse#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/eXiQ84f95h— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) April 26, 2016
Wednesday's Sun front page:
Cam's group text scandal#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/FgtNrTOGk8— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) April 26, 2016
It’s significant because the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun newspaper is infamous on Merseyside for running another front page about Hillsborough 27 years ago.
#Hillsborough as the Sun 'reported' it. Led to the newspaper being boycotted. Will it still be now? #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/lWUuJu38B5
— Kate Forbes (@forbeesta) April 26, 2016
Editor at the time, Kelvin MacKenzie, ran with the headline ‘The Truth’ underscored with baseless allegations that fans urinated on police, pick-pocketed dead victims and prevented police giving the kiss of life to some of the victims at Hillsborough.
The tabloid has since apologised, with a front page in 2012 entitled ‘The Real Truth’, but Merseyside will never forgive The Sun for smearing dead and injured Liverpool fans.
But with the Hillsborough verdict vindicating fans after all these year, you’d imagine it might be apt for the News Corp title to finally give the families of the dead some justice.
Yet instead of giving the story a front page billing, it appears that there’s just a small piece tucked away on page 10.
This is how it was justified on television…
The Sun's @tnewtondunn on Hillsborough coverage: "We will repeat our apology in the paper tomorrow" #skypapers https://t.co/gLPaZ80Vn2
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 26, 2016
Long-time Merseyside football writer at The Times Tony Barrett appeared stunned at th editorial decision of the Murdoch papers to largely ignore the story…
Unbelievable.
— Tony Barrett (@TonyBarrett) April 26, 2016
But if Barrett reacted with shock, fans on Twitter reacted with fury…
https://twitter.com/richinnorthants/status/725099711116500992
https://twitter.com/_lfcjoel/status/725077759765155840
#JFT96 ignored.
Not one square inch.
No shame. No apology.
Even more reason not to buy
The S*n.— MagsNews (@MagsNews) April 26, 2016
Expected coverage and maybe even apology. Instead the S*n have nothing. Basically a middle finger the the victims and their families. Scum.
— Fields of Anfield Road 🇵🇸 (@FOAnfieldRoad) April 26, 2016
Tomorrow's front page of The S*n. As emphatic as you could've guessed. pic.twitter.com/RoTsjgJQA9
— Viktor Fagerström (@ViktorFagerLFC) April 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/ianprior/status/724926616837742599
Wait – neither @TheSun nor @thetimes mention Hillsborough on their front pages?! Disgraceful, contemptible pricks. pic.twitter.com/9p3AApPTaW
— Stephen Mangan (@StephenMangan) April 26, 2016
The Sun is sorry
Kelvin MacKenzie's sorryThey're so sorry that they were happy to print this just 6 months ago pic.twitter.com/jOjFf7LLxc
— The Sun Apologies (@SunApology) April 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/Sonjamclaughlan/status/725081380498104320
Are tomorrow's front pages from the Sun and Times unbelievable? Sadly not considering who owns them; though, they are totally inexcusable.
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) April 26, 2016
As disgusting as it is unsurprising. They have no shame. https://t.co/qKnngxoynh
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 26, 2016
This article orginally appeared on JOE.co.uk.
