The Sport Newspaper Should be Above Kids Eye Level

[webwahm]

I've posted about this before when we had a giant topless woman on Election Day, and eventually let it go...not wanting to be branded a prude.

BUT, once again we've just called into the shop and my 8 year old shrieks 'oh my God that's gross'...

The Sport, woman bent over, arse in the air and to my ASTONISHMENT vaginal lips on show!

I stayed calm and asked DD1 why this was gross..."why take pictures that are rude, what if children come in and see people's privates".

I'm not against porn, but I am against kids seeing inappropriate stuff - and some of the images on The Sport front page are just far too much to be on the bottom at kids level (both our local shops have them on the bottom shelf). They are supposed to cover the pics up but as the day goes on they get messed up etc.

Angry.

[sherby]

just googled the front page for today

[sherby]

am just popping out to tesco

but I know we have had threads on this before and a majority agreed that we could all do something ?boycott? of the shops that were selling in sight of children

I don't see why between us all as a collective of mothers and fathers we can't get some kind of facebook/mn/twitter campaign going to boycott one by one the main retailers for a week or so each, until they agree to either remove the sport entirely or place it higher up in their displays.

Sorry am rambling because I am rushing out, but am sure on the other thread someone mentioned starting with M&S as they were selling them through their petrol staion franchises and were more likely to respond to this kind of pressure

Between us all we have major spending power over these shops, we should at least give it a go

[webwahm]

I agree we should give it a go, which is why it would be great to have MN behind it and which is why I posted here to try give it some 'oomph' and pull in supporters of the previous posts on these issues.

I thought of doing a facebook campaign but who is going to listen to little old me??

When it's just a few ppl it's too easy for the 'bunch of prudes' tag to be applied...although it's not a question of porn/prudishness...it's about 'is this ok to show to kids'.

Hope more people notice this and it gathers pace.

[domesticsluttery]

There is already a Facebook campaign

[MathsMadMummy]

have joined FB campaign. would definitely welcome a proper MN one

OP, my DH thinks YABVU... how can you call the Sport a 'newspaper'?!

[webwahm]

Yeah The Frontpage Campaign is a good one (seem to think it's a charity too), and I posted there a few times, but it aims at all lads mags etc which aren't so low down and easily spotted by little ones.

It also talks about stuff being offensive to women, which for me isn't the issue at the moment...the issue is getting The Sport higher up so kids don't have to see such strong sexual images when in the shops.

[MathsMadMummy]

exactly my main concern is my DCs seeing that stuff. I'm capable of looking away and not letting it upset me but they aren't.

[webwahm]

...I stayed calm and asked DD1 why this was gross..."why take pictures that are rude, what if children come in and see people's privates"

I didn't write that very well - it reads as if that's the question I asked her...but it was her answer.

[sherby]

am back

The thing with the frontpage campaign is that afaik there is no 'direct' action ie a boycott.

If we managed to get MN members + FB members + support on twitter to let people know that between x date and x date we are actively boycotting for 7 days, the shop(s) would definitely sit up and listen

Is it really worth not changing the papers location, when faced with a mass boycott of pissed off mothers and fathers

[webwahm]

we could do with knowing who stocks it where (with pics perhaps if it's low, near sweets etc)

then we could ask them nicely to move it, citing the trading standards guidelines...if they don't then we can see who is the worst offender and look at boycotting?

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Aside from the campaign, is it worth emailing the Press Complaints Commission, with a specific complaint about the front page of the Sport today? Spelling out very clearly that the model's labia are visible.

[webwahm]

...I contacted the Press Complaints Commission after the Election issue but they won't get involved because it doesn't breach the Code of Practice for content (and we're objecting to the placement, not the content per se, although I'm sure they are really pushing any boundaries that exist!!!):

Part of the email reply I got...

"the Code does not cover matters of taste or offensiveness. This is because the PCC recognises that newspapers must have editorial freedom to publish what they choose so long as the rights of individuals are not compromised by their content. Therefore, provided the stringent terms of the industry's own Code of Practice ? designed especially to protect the individual ? are not breached, the PCC cannot, and would not wish, to place any limits on editorial selection. If the PCC were to make the very subjective judgment as to whether material is 'tasteless' or 'offensive', it would be assuming the role of moral arbiter, which is ultimately to say censor. Instead, most editors are aware of what is and is not acceptable to their readership and, if miscalculations are made on this score, market forces will generally dictate they are not repeated.

Your complaint appears to concern a question of taste and offensiveness rather than a breach of a specific clause of the Code. I do not think we will therefore be able to help you on this occasion"

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Scrub that, I've just looked at the PCC website and it is a very tightly controlled process, with all sorts of rules and disclaimers/exceptions.

[webwahm]

...but then again, if enough complained about this edition? Do kids have the right to be protected from porn?

[sherby]

is there a law about exposing children to pornography?

couldn't the the shop be prosecuted? what actually constitutes pornography?

webwahm, was it a local shop or a chain?

[sherby]

is there a law about exposing children to pornography?

couldn't the the shop be prosecuted? what actually constitutes pornography?

webwahm, was it a local shop or a chain?

[webwahm]

sherby, some good questions that I'm looking into. It was a local shop, and they normally cover it up as they are recommended to do when space precludes moving it higher up, but you couldn't cover this very well as the offending bits are right at the top!

The creator of the Frontpage Campaign has emailed me and says 'obscene' isn't defined as such so it can be reported to the Police as an obscene publication (although I already said I wouldn't be comfortable doing that), and MPs written to etc. She thinks they are testing the waters to see what they can get away with, paving the way for more in future if they do.

Again, it's the difference between the content and the location - if it were higher up we wouldn't be having this conversation as it wouldn't have been spotted to cause offence in the first place.

[AmyK1]

Hi - I am chair of the Front Page Campaign and glad to pick up on this conversation. Lots of things like this alert us to the fact that parents are concerned about the way that so-called "soft porn" is being aggressively pushed at their children. Take the Sport - 50 or 60p and its in a shop near your kid's high school. He can legally buy it at any age and let's face it - with huge boobs, bare backsides and now vaginas on show on its front cover, it's pretty tempting for a curious young boy with raging hormones. Inside, plenty of adverts for hardcore stuff including videos you can download onto your mobile phone for free, 5p, 12p and the like.

Our concern is the protection of children, not the objectification of women, although there is another organisation that covers that. For more detailed info of what we are about than is avialable on the Facebook page check out www.thefrontpagecampaign.org.uk.

[MathsMadMummy]

thanks amy

[misdee]

i showed dh the front page from yestedays sport andhe was .

how did this get through at all?

[webwahm]

...I woke up this morning thinking, nah, it must have been a mistake, it got through by mistake - surely they can't have really thought that was OK for a front page...even The Sun doesn't stoop that low etc.

Thanks for popping by Amy, and the info on the paper - didn't realise it was so cheap. The Sport is just the tip of their empire; they are pornographers and the 'newspaper' (I use the term very, very loosely) is just the bait.

I wrote to my MP yesterday for the first time ever, but goodness knows what that will achieve.

[webwahm]

...need to apologise to Amy for thinking the Front Page Campaign dealt with 'offensive to women' issues and not kids - I mixed them up with Object.

Just been checking out the site and there's lots of great info/legal/resources - just a bit miffed to see the Co-Op is the only large supermarket to stock The Sport since I shop there for their ethical stance! I feel a letter coming on

[webwahm]

I've just shown the shop the front page and asked if they'd start to place the paper higher up, and they said yes they would

[HerBeatitude]

Well could we perhaps start with a letter campaign to the co-op? It certainly doesn't fit in with their ethical stance, does it?

[webwahm]

I've never done anything like this - how does this work? Can we mention MN?

If we email, maybe we should send the pic too, although it might not get through? Link to it instead?

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