View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Politics
  2. Media
22 January 2015updated 26 Sep 2015 7:17am

The Sun mocks journalists with topless women in a return of Page 3

Reverse ferret.

By Media Mole

This week, there was cause for celebration among No More Page 3 campaigners – and, y’know, any other human beings who want to live in a society where the national newspapers use their pages for writing the news rather than fundamentally undermining the battle for the equality of the sexes – as it appeared Page 3 had been scrapped.

The tabloid’s sister paper, the Times, ran a report about the paper quietly dropping the feature – a story that many confirmed with the fact that the Sun had not printed pictures of topless women in its Monday and Tuesday editions this week.

However, in the media equivalent of a “drunken letchy uncle at a wedding who doesn’t get the message”, as put wonderfully by the MP Stella Creasy, the Sun has today run a joke “apology” and printed a picture of a topless woman on Page 3. She appears under the header “Clarifications and Corrections”. The front page boasts that the paper has had “a mammary lapse”. There are likely to be angry faces in the Murdoch press pen today, as it’s clear the Sun has screwed over its neighbouring broadsheet, the Times, in its stunt to debunk the news story.

Here is the paper’s “apology”:

One of the classiest elements of this reverse ferret is the Sun’s PR man, Dylan Sharpe, mocking journalists and politicians online with a picture of today’s Page 3 subject:

It doesn’t really scream the Sun’s message that Page 3 is a “celebration of women”, when one wearing no clothes is being used online as ammunition for putting other women in their place.

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU