In what became a landmark ruling, the U.K.’s Independent Press Standards Organisation chose to uphold sexism complaints regarding a 2022 article about Meghan Markle that triggered more than 25,000 responses after being published by The Sun.
“IPSO has upheld a complaint that a column in The Sun about the Duchess of Sussex included a pejorative and prejudicial reference to her sex,” the IPSO tweeted Friday. “This was a serious breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice.”
The British press watchdog group launched an investigation into the article in which author Jeremy Clarkson called for the wife of Prince Harry to be paraded through English streets naked while being pelted with excrement, according to the Independent.
Clarkson and The Sun have since apologized for the column, which is no longer online.
Never before has the IPSO upheld a complaint pertaining to a subject’s sex.
The Fawcett Society and WILDE Foundation, both women’s rights organizations, were two of the groups that filed formal complaints about “Jeremy Clarkson’s vile and offensive column about the Duchess of Sussex.”
“All women are harmed if any woman is the target of sexist reporting and media misogyny is not acceptable,” Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society Jemima Olchawski said in a statement. “Since it was established in 2014, IPSO has never upheld a complaint about sexism — and that changes today. ... Misogyny and hate are not acceptable and they can no longer be dressed up as satire or banter.”
While the organizations called the ruling a “landmark decision,” complaints that the article harassed Markle and/or contained racism were not upheld.
As a result of the decision, The Sun will be obligated to publish the results of the IPSO finding Saturday on the same page that Clarkson’s column would have run, as well as tease the story on its front page. A web version has also been instructed.
However, many have said the punishment isn’t harsh enough for the crime, asking why the decision took so long and why no fines were imposed.
According to journalist Brian Cathcart, the IPSO is “supposedly empowered to slap 1 million (pound) fines on erring papers (but) has never handed down even a 10 (pound) fine.” He adds that the IPSO has repeatedly dismissed complaints of racism.
Clarkson, who has also worked with the BBC, is described by The Sun as “a motoring enthusiast who loves giving his tongue-in-cheek views each week.”
Prince Harry called Clarkson’s article “horrific and hurtful and cruel” in a January interview on British television.
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