Their article regarding racism in the press was not well received
Ian Murray, the executive director of the Society of Editors, has resigned following the backlash to an open letter on Meghan Markle’s recent comments, the Guardian are reporting.
In their interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke about Markle’s experience of being subject to racist coverage from the British press. Harry said: “The UK is not bigoted, the UK press is bigoted, specifically the tabloids.”
In response, rather than engaging in some introspective thinking about its own conduct, media body the Society of Editors penned a response, written by Ian Murray, headlined ‘UK media not bigoted: SoE responds to Sussexes’ claims of racism,’ refuting Harry’s claims.
“It is not acceptable for the Duke and Duchess to make such claims without providing any supporting evidence,” SoE executive director Ian Murray said in the piece published on Monday.
“If it is simply the case the Sussexes feel that the press by questioning their actions and commenting on their roles when working as Royals funded by the taxpayer were being racist then they are mistaken.
“In the case of Meghan Markle and her engagement and marriage to Prince Harry there was universal supporting coverage in the UK media which reflected the warmth shown to the couple by the British people. But that warmth could not and should not mean the press should be expected to refuse to report, investigate and comment on the couple’s lifestyle and actions.
Murray then laughably claimed “has a proud record of calling out racism”. Due to this being total bollocks, the article faced a backlash from board members and journalists from elsewhere in the media.
On Wednesday morning, other directors of the society issued a new statement, saying Murray’s article “did not reflect what we all know: that there is a lot of work to be done in the media to improve diversity and inclusion.”
That wasn’t enough though.
Open letters were signed by hundreds of journalists from various publishers, rejecting Murray’s comments, as his position on the board of the Society of Editors became untenable. The Yorkshire Post even withdrew from the Society of Editors’ regional journalism awards, while ITV’s Charlene White pulled out of hosting a separate national awards night organised by the SoE.
Mounting pressure gave Murray no option but to resign from his position after issuing such a tone deaf statement.
