I was Clarkson's Editor for over a decade but I was horrified by this column. It should never have run. I've been on LBC and ITV talking about racism in the UK press, this is my take
I am also disgusted with the Sun and mail newspapers every single day their editors published degrading and untruths about Meghan and Harry
They even started to believed their own lies so found it hard to stop their negativity
I believed that the editors of these publications should be held responsible too
Jeremy Clarkson feels that he has a free reign to say and do whatever he wants without consequences and has got away with it for too long
I’ve written to the sun journalists and editors many times concerned about so much negativity towards Meghan that I started to fear for her and her family lives and her mental state
I even wrote to say that there are some unhinged people who may or could seek Meghan and her children out to harm them as the Sun even published where they lived
I believed that the Sun publication was not only stirring up hated and racism towards Meghan but to all women of colour
there's already too much racism and hurt in this world
I even wrote that should anything happens to Meghan and Harry they would have blood on their hands
What I truly don’t understand is what have Meghan ever done to those journalists and haters like Pier’s Morgan and Dan Whotton
it’s now proven that what Meghan and Harry said about the papers of this country haunting them away from Britian is so true
I like many others believe everything they said in the Netflix documentary
To date the sun’s editors still thinks that publishing Jeremy!s racist and misogynistic views are the right thing to do
There’s been no sincere apology issued to Meghan or Harry and people of colour
I would suggest to every decent person who buys these papers to boycott them
Women are not safe whilst the editors and racists journalists of these publications continues in their jobs
Perfectly put Eleanor. I cannot understand how Jeremy Clarkson even THINK these toxic, racist, misogynistic thoughts about inciting violence and encouraging throwing shit - literally - at Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
I have sent a complaint to Ipso and Clarkson's attack fits much of the Editor's Code of Practice which came about after the phone hacking scandal which of course The Sun was at the heart of but here's just one clause. https://www.ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice/
Clause 3 (Harassment)*
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
Very well put Eleanor. This didn’t “slip through the net”. It will have been seen and approved by editors, sub-editors and - presumably - lawyers. Quite apart from the moral objections, it should have given any one of them pause for thought about the Editors’ Code of Conduct not to mention the law on inciting racial hatred.
The silence from the palace is absolutely deafening. If my son's wife was being spoken about like this I would most certainly be VERY vocal about it, no matter what I thought about her.
This is clearly absolutely intolerable and the palace should say so!
Of course the fact that Camilla hosted Clarkson and Piers Morgan not 2 days before, speaks absolute volumes and certainly adds even more credence to what Harry and Meghan have been saying.
The fact that the head of IPSO Lord Faulks ( a former Tory Peer) cancelled a planned event he was due to attend on the 19th, hosted by Rupert Murdoch, whose company own's the Sun ( or Scum as it's known) also speaks volumes!
The perfect response! Thanks for writing it. I imagine some objections were raised and dismissed in-house; as a sub, I would certainly let the commissioning ed know that not only is the column vile but also that it would bring the paper into (further) disrepute. Someone higher up the chain must have said publish and be damned, thinking that the publicity, any publicity, is worth it.
Dec 20, 2022·edited Dec 20, 2022Liked by Eleanor Mills
Very well said. I’ve been horrified by the way the tabloid media have adopted a stance against Meghan (& Harry) and miss no opportunity to pillory & ridicule her.. Just sad and appalling. They’ve clearly long forgotten Caroline Flack. I despair! Apart from the racist aspect of the attacks, it just feels like misogyny on a grand scale.. So very depressing..
How does Camilla Long slip through her editor's net every Sunday with her personal views on H&M? She's always incredibly nasty about them both but has not met either and writes on hearsay, if not completely made up which most ST readers lap up as the truth. She is absolutely complicit too. It's not just misogynists spreading vile hatred - there are women in the press too which I find just as mind blowing.
Why resign? If the post got a million likes for speaking out clearly what you had to say was exactly what everyone wanted to hear. The male chair spoke out from his place of power and gave up nothing. Do we change more by giving up seats of power or standing on those seats and shouting? If the old adage is true that the house always wins, and it seems to be, then own the house. Don’t stand outside it and wish it didn’t exist.
"He can be edited. No one did that which means they must have thought it was okay to run a column asking for a vulnerable woman, who has already said the media almost drove her to suicide, to be paraded through the streets naked and have shit thrown at her. That is misogyny of the vilest form. And I don’t think Clarkson would say that about a man. And it is particularly egregious given the earlier form of the tabloids when it comes to racist and misogynist coverage of the Duchess of Sussex."
Exactly, the lack of editing is not an accident, it is the in the design of Murdoch's empire. Sustaining humilliation as a device to keep old systems in place, to keep his audience feeling heard. To polarise, to Divide and Rule, maintaining his considerable political power in this world.
Actually I owe you an apology. I looked up a bit more about Clarkson and didn't realise he was also racist on top of everything else. I'd heard so much about him .
I have watched the Harry and Meghan documentary I am not so crazy about Meghan i thought she was disrespectful about the Queen and Harry was squirming as she said it about the curtsy amd acted it out, however I could never dislike someone due to their race. I've always loved Harry. I should have checked up more about Clarkson before I made my comment I just can't stand him but I didn't know he was racist I dreaded him for his sexist comments over the years. Apologies
Why did you bring into it that she is a woman of colour? Clarksons comments were horrific but it he never said anything racist, why did you write "Especially a woman of colour"? I see this as racist what you wrote I really am genuine can you please explain why you yourself brought race into it? I was agreeing with you and then saw that, it took me back I just don't understand.
This is wonderfully put and echoes some of my own thoughts about the story when I read about it in the press. The Sun (as well as Clarkson) should absolutely be held accountable as they printed the article, and let's not forget their campaign of hate against Markle which she talks about in the Netflix series. I'm afraid to say what The Sun prints and how it behaves IS hateful, mysoginistic and racist because those are the kind of readers it seeks to appeal to. And it does such a good job that (as Markle herself marvels in the series) people *actually believe it*. In this instance, it seems someone threw Clarkson under the bus at the same time as Markle because no discerning editor (tabloid or not) would surely allow this kind of rhetoric to hit our newsstands. But they do, and sadly a lot of the general public agree with it.
I am also disgusted with the Sun and mail newspapers every single day their editors published degrading and untruths about Meghan and Harry
They even started to believed their own lies so found it hard to stop their negativity
I believed that the editors of these publications should be held responsible too
Jeremy Clarkson feels that he has a free reign to say and do whatever he wants without consequences and has got away with it for too long
I’ve written to the sun journalists and editors many times concerned about so much negativity towards Meghan that I started to fear for her and her family lives and her mental state
I even wrote to say that there are some unhinged people who may or could seek Meghan and her children out to harm them as the Sun even published where they lived
I believed that the Sun publication was not only stirring up hated and racism towards Meghan but to all women of colour
there's already too much racism and hurt in this world
I even wrote that should anything happens to Meghan and Harry they would have blood on their hands
What I truly don’t understand is what have Meghan ever done to those journalists and haters like Pier’s Morgan and Dan Whotton
it’s now proven that what Meghan and Harry said about the papers of this country haunting them away from Britian is so true
I like many others believe everything they said in the Netflix documentary
To date the sun’s editors still thinks that publishing Jeremy!s racist and misogynistic views are the right thing to do
There’s been no sincere apology issued to Meghan or Harry and people of colour
I would suggest to every decent person who buys these papers to boycott them
Women are not safe whilst the editors and racists journalists of these publications continues in their jobs
Perfectly put Eleanor. I cannot understand how Jeremy Clarkson even THINK these toxic, racist, misogynistic thoughts about inciting violence and encouraging throwing shit - literally - at Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
I have sent a complaint to Ipso and Clarkson's attack fits much of the Editor's Code of Practice which came about after the phone hacking scandal which of course The Sun was at the heart of but here's just one clause. https://www.ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice/
Clause 3 (Harassment)*
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
I have complained to https://www.ipso.co.uk and suggest others do to.
Very well put Eleanor. This didn’t “slip through the net”. It will have been seen and approved by editors, sub-editors and - presumably - lawyers. Quite apart from the moral objections, it should have given any one of them pause for thought about the Editors’ Code of Conduct not to mention the law on inciting racial hatred.
💯. Well said. The problem is there are no sanctions for Clarkson. He'll just get away with it as he usually does. It's part of his brand.
The silence from the palace is absolutely deafening. If my son's wife was being spoken about like this I would most certainly be VERY vocal about it, no matter what I thought about her.
This is clearly absolutely intolerable and the palace should say so!
Of course the fact that Camilla hosted Clarkson and Piers Morgan not 2 days before, speaks absolute volumes and certainly adds even more credence to what Harry and Meghan have been saying.
The fact that the head of IPSO Lord Faulks ( a former Tory Peer) cancelled a planned event he was due to attend on the 19th, hosted by Rupert Murdoch, whose company own's the Sun ( or Scum as it's known) also speaks volumes!
It's all rotten to the core!
The perfect response! Thanks for writing it. I imagine some objections were raised and dismissed in-house; as a sub, I would certainly let the commissioning ed know that not only is the column vile but also that it would bring the paper into (further) disrepute. Someone higher up the chain must have said publish and be damned, thinking that the publicity, any publicity, is worth it.
Very well said. I’ve been horrified by the way the tabloid media have adopted a stance against Meghan (& Harry) and miss no opportunity to pillory & ridicule her.. Just sad and appalling. They’ve clearly long forgotten Caroline Flack. I despair! Apart from the racist aspect of the attacks, it just feels like misogyny on a grand scale.. So very depressing..
How does Camilla Long slip through her editor's net every Sunday with her personal views on H&M? She's always incredibly nasty about them both but has not met either and writes on hearsay, if not completely made up which most ST readers lap up as the truth. She is absolutely complicit too. It's not just misogynists spreading vile hatred - there are women in the press too which I find just as mind blowing.
Why resign? If the post got a million likes for speaking out clearly what you had to say was exactly what everyone wanted to hear. The male chair spoke out from his place of power and gave up nothing. Do we change more by giving up seats of power or standing on those seats and shouting? If the old adage is true that the house always wins, and it seems to be, then own the house. Don’t stand outside it and wish it didn’t exist.
Good work Els! It's utterly tragic the sight of the important pillar of democracy that is the media debasing itself over stories that flog papers.
Thank you for standing up and speaking out.
I admire your guts..
Your undying tenacity to speak out when it does matter.
Ride on.
"He can be edited. No one did that which means they must have thought it was okay to run a column asking for a vulnerable woman, who has already said the media almost drove her to suicide, to be paraded through the streets naked and have shit thrown at her. That is misogyny of the vilest form. And I don’t think Clarkson would say that about a man. And it is particularly egregious given the earlier form of the tabloids when it comes to racist and misogynist coverage of the Duchess of Sussex."
Exactly, the lack of editing is not an accident, it is the in the design of Murdoch's empire. Sustaining humilliation as a device to keep old systems in place, to keep his audience feeling heard. To polarise, to Divide and Rule, maintaining his considerable political power in this world.
An angle I wrote from on my substack.
Hi Eleanor
Actually I owe you an apology. I looked up a bit more about Clarkson and didn't realise he was also racist on top of everything else. I'd heard so much about him .
I have watched the Harry and Meghan documentary I am not so crazy about Meghan i thought she was disrespectful about the Queen and Harry was squirming as she said it about the curtsy amd acted it out, however I could never dislike someone due to their race. I've always loved Harry. I should have checked up more about Clarkson before I made my comment I just can't stand him but I didn't know he was racist I dreaded him for his sexist comments over the years. Apologies
Why did you bring into it that she is a woman of colour? Clarksons comments were horrific but it he never said anything racist, why did you write "Especially a woman of colour"? I see this as racist what you wrote I really am genuine can you please explain why you yourself brought race into it? I was agreeing with you and then saw that, it took me back I just don't understand.
This is wonderfully put and echoes some of my own thoughts about the story when I read about it in the press. The Sun (as well as Clarkson) should absolutely be held accountable as they printed the article, and let's not forget their campaign of hate against Markle which she talks about in the Netflix series. I'm afraid to say what The Sun prints and how it behaves IS hateful, mysoginistic and racist because those are the kind of readers it seeks to appeal to. And it does such a good job that (as Markle herself marvels in the series) people *actually believe it*. In this instance, it seems someone threw Clarkson under the bus at the same time as Markle because no discerning editor (tabloid or not) would surely allow this kind of rhetoric to hit our newsstands. But they do, and sadly a lot of the general public agree with it.