Ex press chief: The media was *not* racist towards Meghan

Freddie Sayers meets Ian Murray.

When 49.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the Harry and Meghan interview on Oprah, the drama that unfolded left many victims — not all famous or royal — in their wake. One such casualty was Ian Murray, the head of the Society of Editors, who came out to defend the British press against the claim made by the Duke of Sussex that the industry was racist. According to a statement put out by Murray, such an “attack” was “not acceptable” without any evidence. Following the statement came a now-infamous interview with Victoria Derbyshire, in which Murray got into a heated row with the interviewer over whether certain headlines could be construed as racist.

In spite of a second statement issued by the Society of Editors, the damage was already done: over 160 journalists of colour and the editors of the Guardian, Financial Times and HuffPost wrote an open letter describing the SoE’s initial statement as “laughable” proof of “an institution and an industry in denial”. This left Murray in the strange predicament of being attacked by the people he was trying to defend. Meanwhile, an ITV presenter and editor of the Yorkshire Post both pulled out of the Society of Editors awards. 

Effectively, the executive director was left with no choice but to resign from the organisation he helped to found some 22 years prior. In an exclusive interview with UnHerd, Murray finally speaks out and give his version of events: does he regret the statement? Is the British press racist? And what does it feel like when the mob comes for you? He discusses all this and more in today’s LockdownTV.

// Timecodes //

00:26 - 01:32 - Introduction
01:32 - 03:48 - What happened
03:48 - 08:05 - The British media’s reaction
08:05 - 11:26 - Resigning
11:26 - 14:07 - Is the British media racist?
14:07 - 17:31 - Appearing on the BBC
17:31 - 20:52 - Why the British media turned on Harry and Meghan
20:52 - 21:53 - Does race play a part?
21:53 - 25:28 - The fallout
25:28 - 26:42 - Recovering
26:42 - 28:15 - The future
28:15 - 30:03 - Does Britain have a free press?
30:03 - 34:55 - Do we have freedom of speech?

#meghan #britishmedia #racism

Видео Ex press chief: The media was *not* racist towards Meghan канала UnHerd