What’s the story?
Ben Stokes has lashed out at a 'sensational' story The Sun published on 17 September, 2019, about a personal tragedy his family had endured 31 years ago. In a statement on Twitter, the Englishman labelled the story as ‘disgusting' and ‘immoral’.
In case you didn’t know...
The Sun, despite being one of the leading newspapers across the country, has often been guilty of publishing pieces of news, both inaccurately and distastefully, especially in sensitive situations.
Years ago, after the Hillsborough disaster, the newspaper put out a front page feature, named ‘The Truth’ where it accused Liverpool fans of certain misdoings, allegations that were grossly misrepresented.
Ironically though, The Sun titled it ‘The Truth’ and were stubborn enough to not take back their statements, despite those claims being baseless and unfounded.
The heart of the matter
Stokes, England’s premier all-rounder, took to Twitter to lambast an extremely unethical story The Sun had published about a tragedy the Englishman’s family had to fight through, 31 years back.
The cricketer called the newspaper’s story ‘disgusting’ and ‘immoral’, while he also mentioned that he found it hard to put down how low and despicable the act of The Sun was, regarding an incident the media house had no right to splash across the front page.
Moreover, Stokes talked about how The Sun sent a reporter to question his parents in New Zealand on the situation and how upsetting that particular act was. The all-rounder remarked that the particular incident would have grave and lifelong consequences for his mother.
He also said that the article contained bits of information that contained inaccuracies, meaning that The Sun had conspired to worsen the situation.
Furthermore, the all-rounder called the newspaper’s antics as the lowest form of journalism, wherein the media outlet, for its own gain, had absolutely no regard for the devastation caused to the people written about in the post.
To conclude, Stokes pleaded for all those concerned to respect his family’s privacy and right to home life.
What’s next?
The Sun haven’t yet responded to Stokes’ statement and it remains to be seen how the newspaper tackles this situation, considering the unprincipled nature of their act.
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