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20 April 2020

“596 dead – see page 4”: The Sun’s pub front page exposes its priorities

With a jaunty graphic to boot.

By Media Mole

In the grip of a deadly pandemic, where to turn for sensitive, tonally-appropriate coverage of the scale of human tragedy?

Well, your mole would recommend the Sun, which runs an almost full page-sized stock photo of a pint as its splash, lamenting that our “boozers” will be “last to open” once, y’know, the ravages of an unknown disease are under mildly more control.

“PUBS SHUT TILL CHRISTMAS” screams its front page headline – but, as social media users noticed when it was tweeted out, there is also a little jaunty graphic puffing another story within. A free gift, maybe? A package holiday or a Downton Abbey DVD?

Nope. It’s actually “596 dead – see page 4”. Written over a cartoon graphic of a coronavirus protein.


Photo: Twitter/@TheSun

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Priorities, eh.

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