My reply to The Sun On Sundays request yesterday.
Hi Gareth,
Thank you for your email.
Primarily I need to correct you on your referral to Universal Credit as being Universal Credits. These are different things, and although I don’t want to argue about semantics, it is about conveying the correct message across. Therefore using the correct benefit title is very important isn’t it. I’m sure that you will agree with me.
As you can tell, I’m rather fussy about the getting the correct message out to the public. After all the public deserve to be correctly and reliably informed about important issues, especially in newspapers and the media. However this is something that The Sun Newspaper has regretfully been doing a terrible job of.
Headlines such as ‘Benefit scrounger mum of 8 says £500 a week handouts aren’t enough for her four bed council house’ Dan Sales 18th February 2017. Other headlines such as ‘Takers dozen. Sponging mum of 13 who rakes in £30,00 a year in benefits is branded a scrounger by her own daughter’ Alex West 30th December 2016. ‘Family planning. Scrounging mum of 12 Cheryl Prudham who pockets £40,00 a year in benefits flashes her tummy outside medical centre days before announcing shes expecting baby 13.’
I could continue sharing these headlines with you, however you get the gist don’t you.
Not only were these headlines not based on fact, not researched correctly they were damaging to the people concerned and to the most vulnerable people of this country and were created specifically to cause prejudice and division towards the poorest of this country, the very people that your newspaper is now reaching out to.
These headlines were so hard hitting, a phrase that you like to use, that as a result of the ongoing campaign of hatred against the poor, led by The Sun newspaper, other newspapers and television channels, I, myself have been shouted at, called a scrounger, told to get a job, and spat at. Luckily it didn’t touch me, but you can see how this works out right?
The people that I help have also experienced prejudice as a result of this ongoing campaign and do so on a daily basis.
I can never forget the “Scrounger Awards’ that The Sun newspaper published, also ‘The Welfies’ and the ‘Job Dodger’ awards.
Sympathetic also isn’t something that I associate with The Sun newspaper, after all we can never forget Hillsborough can we.
A point to note, lying has 5 letters, but so does truth. Hurt has 4 letters but so does heal. Everyday I try and rectify the harmful and malicious lies set about by The Sun newspaper. Maybe the newspaper could do the same.
You also might like to read this, because if you had researched my name correctly you would have found this article about myself. https://thetab.com/…/spoke-woman-petitioning-manchester-boy…
I therefore would like to decline your offer of a chat, nor will I be referring any vulnerable people to your newspaper to talk. You see, I simply cannot trust the newspaper not to twist their words and to turn them into figures of hatred.
However, we would like an apology from The Sun newspaper for all the hurt, damage and discrimination caused by the words printed in your newspaper. Wouldn’t it be nice if that was a front page headline instead of a Benefit Scrounger headline.
Respectfully
Charlotte Hughes
Please read: The right-wing press is the enemy of the poor
