Shortly after publishing the soft headline, the BBC apologized: “The talented but flawed producer Phil Spector dies at 81 years old.”
Referring to the killer who shot actress Lana Clarkson in the mouth as merely ‘flawed’, the BBC was immediately hit with setbacks, including an article in The Guardian entitled ‘Phil Spector was not a’ flawed genius’ – he was a ‘murderer’. and a tweet by singer Lily Allen:
The BBC immediately changed its headline to ‘Pop producer goes to jail for murder at 81’, saying ‘We apologize for this mistake’ and that the headline ‘does not meet our editorial standards’.
From the BBC:
In response to the original version of the BBC story, pop star Lily Allen tweeted it: “Roll your eyes at all the magazines that deliberately harm Phil Spector as a killer in their headlines, so point them all out while linking to their articles, which gives a lot of clicks.”
‘He killed Lana Clarkson’ Apsana Begum, Labor MP, posted. “Unforgivable reporting.”
“How about ‘Killer, Phil Spector dies at 81’?” presented the author and historian Hallie Rubenhold.
The headline was also discussed in TV and radio programs on Monday, including Loose Women and Radio’s Woman’s Hour, and cited an article in the Guardian.
The wording of the BBC article – and others of it – was a reflection of how a man’s’ genius’ often becomes more important than a woman’s humanness, ‘said columnist Arwa Mahdawi.
Image: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation