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On Sunday, people around the world watched Meghan Markle confess that she was considering ending her own life due to continued abuse by UK media. On Monday, business continued as usual.
Details of Oprah Winfrey’s CBS interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, aka the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were splashed onto the front pages, as expected. But in the UK tabloids and on the airwaves, columnists and commentators continued the very style of coverage – which stoked the maximum resentment against Meghan – that made a pregnant woman suicidal. This is also true of the four tabloids whose stories have long sought to cause the most damage, causing enough concern on the part of the Sussex press team that they implemented a rare policy of no – media engagement when Meghan and Harry last retired from royal life. year.
Here are some of the articles they released after the interview:
The Mail: “PIERS MORGAN: Meghan and Harry’s foul-smelling two hours of Oprah Whine-Athon was a shameful rant of cynical propaganda aimed at attracting the race and aimed at harming the Queen while her husband is in hospital – and destroy the monarchy. “
L’Express: “Oprah Interview: Meghan cost you everything Harry – let’s hope it’s worth it.”
The Sun: “SOAP OPRAH: Royal pundits regard Harry and Meghan Oprah as ‘selfish’ and say Queen will be ‘absolutely devastated’.
The Mirror: “Meghan and Harry are destroying the royal family from within like survivors of a poisoned cult.”
Even more interesting is the media tour of Camilla Tominey, the journalist who published the November 2018 story – based on anonymous sources – about a confrontation between Meghan and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, which Meghan allegedly made crying Kate. Detail dominated the cover. Then, in the Oprah interview, Meghan said it was actually Kate who made her crying during a tense moment in the wedding planning process – a clear and documented denial.
And yet, the day after the interview, Tominey appeared as Royal Expert on “TODAY” in the United States, “Good Morning” on ITV in the United Kingdom, and was quoted in New York. Times and by CBS News. Except for her appearance on ‘Good Morning’ she was not asked how she wrote the story that Meghan explicitly denied. BuzzFeed News has reached out to Tominey, TODAY, New York Times and CBS News for comment.
“I’m really glad Meghan confirmed my accurate bust story while trying on a bridesmaid dress – although ‘memories may differ’ as to who cried and who didn’t. . thank you! Tominey added on Twitter.
At least publicly, on Twitter, there doesn’t seem to be much self-reflection among royal journalists on how the industry’s stories, perhaps their own stories, have contributed to the deterioration of mental health. from Meghan.
Some tabloids have gone further.
On Friday, Associated Newspapers, the parent company of MailOnline, the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday sent an official letter to CBS calling for a montage of the headlines Oprah posted during the interview.
“There was constant criticism, blatant sexist and racist remarks from UK tabloids and internet trolls,” Oprah said in a voiceover as the footage was shown. “We have seen the racism against him unfold in real time. Referring to her as “straight out of Compton”. The daily assault on vitriol and the condemnation of the British press has become overwhelming and, in Meghan’s words, ‘almost overwhelming’.
One complaint from the newspaper chain was, hey – all those terrible headlines weren’t from the UK. Some were from the United States!
And another was that Associated disagreed with the content of their headlines which were based on other people’s racism. Like: “‘Meghan’s seed will defile our royal family’: UKIP chief’s glamorous model lover, 25, is suspended from the party for racist texts about Prince Harry’s future wife.
To be clear, none of the headlines presented during the interview were tampered with. Harpo Productions told BuzzFeed News, “We support the show in its entirety.”
Since the explosive interview, attacks on British tabloids and calls for change have come from around the world. If the defensive reaction of the British media establishment over the past few days is any indication, things will continue.
In Sunday’s interview, the Sussexes said it was precisely the attack on what they called ‘racist’ coverage of Meghan by the British press that caused them not only to leave royal life but, of the less for now, the UK.
“The British press is fanatic, especially the tabloids,” Harry said.
It was a clever move. For years, UK tabloids have been running screeds about the couple, feeding off a parade of unnamed sources.
“It’s unusually difficult to judge the reliability of most royal reporting because it’s a world almost devoid of open or named sources,” former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger wrote in an analysis of 2020 analysis of how the Sussexes are covered by the UK Press. “To believe what we are told, we have to believe that there are legions of ‘helpers’, ‘palace initiates’, ‘friends’ and ‘seasoned courtiers’ around the clock right now. gossip.”
Now Harry and Meghan were fighting back on a bigger platform, without much hindsight, and televised – officially, responsible for their words. Basically asking: Who should you believe?
One of the most shocking moments of the interview came when Meghan and Harry pointed out who they believe are the very catalyst for the harassing coverage: the people inside Buckingham Palace. They colluded with the press to spread “lies” about them, they said, or failed to correct the stories Harry and Meghan said not only staff members but members of the royals knew they were lies – as when five days before Oprah’s interview, The Times alleged Meghan had harassed palace staff. A Sussex spokesman accused the newspaper “of being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a totally false story”, calling the story a “calculated campaign of smear and harmful disinformation”. The palace did not return requests for comment.
“If, as a member of the family, you are willing to drink wine, have dinner and give full access to these reporters, then you will get better press,” Harry said during the interview, describing an “invisible contract” which exists “behind closed doors” between the institutions and the tabloids. On Twitter, the royal correspondents mocked to these claims of collusion.
By giving their interview, Harry and Meghan have shattered much more than the dramatic account of their lives by the British press. They have drawn public attention to the Royal Family, one of the world’s most secretive institutions – and when you reach out to the UK press looking for cold, hard facts on the matter, as written Rusbridger, you have to trust the reporter. citing this anonymous source.
Whether this will impact coverage in the future remains to be seen.
The Society of Editors issued an outraged statement in response to Meghan and Harry’s interview, categorically denying that the British press is, as Harry put it, “bigoted”.
Following public outcry, the group’s director, Ian Murray, resigned.
And the company issued a “clarifying” statement admitting that there was “a lot of work to be done in the media to improve diversity and inclusion.”
Meghan’s tabloid tale as a gold digger, social escalator and harridan determined to separate Harry from his blameless family received its biggest blow – because, for once, we heard royals recount their own story.
“If the news source is inherently corrupt, racist or one-sided, it spills over to the rest of society,” Harry said in the interview.
For now, society will have to ask what he meant by “source” – the media? Or the palace?
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines are available at befrienders.org. You can also text TALK at 741741 for free, anonymous 24/7 crisis assistance in the United States from Crisis Text Line.
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