Richard Littlejohn was named today in the inquest into the death of Lucy Meadows / Nathan Upton.
Hounding and abusing people to the point that they commit suicide is not new with the printed press. Why should Littlejohn not stand trial for his part in the untimely death of this albeit troubled person.
From the BBC...
" A coroner has criticised the media over the "character assassination" of a transgender teacher who later took her own life.
An inquest heard Lucy Meadows hit the headlines after announcing her return to Mary Magdalen's Primary School in Accrington, Lancashire, as a woman.
Ms Meadows, 32, previously known as male teacher Nathan Upton, died from carbon monoxide poisoning in March.
Coroner Michael Singleton said media guidelines should be tightened.
Ms Meadows had complained to the Press Complaints Commission about harassment and an article in the Daily Mail by columnist Richard Littlejohn questioning her right to teach, the inquest in Blackburn was told."
Disappointed to discover that this is a thread about responsible journalism and not about the changing media from printed to electronic and the impact of a significant reduction in the paper/print industry.
<<Wanders off to read something else.
He / She is not the first person to take their own life after press harassment and they won't be the last. The inquest did not say that Littlejohn was directly responsible but the pressure that the deceased person came under as a consequence "should" be taken into account. The fact that it is not taken into account is a loss to our society.
I think it's somewhat disingenuous to refer to journalism and gutterpress comic book style sensationalism in the same breath.
Sadly, quality journalism, the craft of the wordsmith, is all but dead.
This is not in any way different to the utterly dreadful standard of reporting on TV. The spectacle of reporters interviewing reporters and the appalling inaccuracies in their drivel to make 'breaking news' makes one cringe.
Awful.
the thing is, if you don't like the way newspapers report stuff don't buy them like me and many others like me they will then either change or become extinct but if you do buy papers then your part of the problem not the cure
sadly can't even say most Newspapers now are tomorrow's chip wrapping
:sad:
Note to Admin:
Please can we have an Aaaarrrggghhhh.... emoticon?
In this case...The Media and Richard Littlejohn are not the reason this person committed suicide . However it was a contributing factor. This person was a very venerable person, and so the name calling and the pressure by moralistic half wits like Richard Littlejohn, certainly did nothing to make this person feel accepted. To be low and depressed is an awful feeling. To then have national media putting your name and your circumstances out there in a moralistic manor that it was, can not be helpful or pleasant. Let us remember this person had broke no rules, and had done nothing wrong. However Mr Richard Littlejohn took it upon himself to get on his moralistic hobby horse and condemn this person. He and his paper does need to seriously look at what they say and do and the effect it can have.
Let us not forget the so called prank phone call, when some aussie radio station presenter, pretended to be the queen, and it lead to the nurse concerned committing suicide. Again not the reason she committed suicide but didn't help matters for sure. Thing is the media were up in arms and up for string them up from nearest lamp post !! However now its them that have hounded someone over the edge, its a different case.
The two presenters on the radio station, both apologised openly for their actions. perhaps Mr Richard littlejohn should take the front page out and apologise for his actions....somehow I don't think I will hold my breath waiting...
Totally.. double standards.
unfortunately Mr Littlejohn does exist......he used to host a radio phone in at one time....not sure if he still does. I do think that sometimes his views are just there to provoke a reaction...if that's the case..then that's fine it works !!
Famous and celebrity types put them selves in the public eye and to a degree are fair game. Is it not said that all publicity is good publicity !!! ( thou not 100% that is true....Max Clifford would rather not have his current level of publicity I am sure ) However poking fun or abusing innocent people, just because you have a different moral view, is a very dangerous game and as we can see, can lead to dangerous results.
people also forget the good papers can do you only have to look at the mp expenses scandal.
there are some very tenacious journalist out there that do a real service
so the freedom of the press can be important at times.
)
:rotflmao: 
