1. Alas, another Britishcultural icon gone
Russell Grenning
You wouldhave thoughtthatthe telephone hackingscandal thatengulfedRupertMurdoch’sBritish
newspaperempirewasquite enoughtoshatterconfidence inthe integrity,decencyandall-round
reliabilityof hispublicationsbutitseemshe hasbeenresponsibleforendinganothernoble and
iconicfeature of contemporaryjournalism.
Am I talkingaboutfearless,stoutlyindependentandhighlyprincipledinvestigative journalismthat
exposescorruption,cover-upsandscandals?AmItalkingaboutensuringafair andbalanced
coverage of the news,showingnobiasandconferringnofavours?
Well,noand no.It’sfar more seriousthanthat.
There isno pointintryingto skirtthe issue –it has to be statedbluntlyandcoldly,althoughsaying
that bravelydoesn’t denythe tears.
Yes,Mr Murdoch’s qualityUKnewspaper “TheSun”has abolished,ended,stoppedandcancelled
the legendarytoplesspage three girl pictures.While somewomenmay have thought–selfishlyin
my view –that thisfeature wasmisogynist,demeaningtowomen,outdated,sexistandsoft-core
pornography,the factremainsthatit was a tradition;well arecenttradition,butatradition
nevertheless.
I’man enlightened,progressive sort of chapwhobelievesthatwe can all live withouthavingpictures
of naked,youngandgenerouslyvoluptuouswomenshovedinfrontof ourfaces.In fact,I actually
didbuy “Playboy”inthe past for itsinterestingarticles.
Murdoch purchased “The Sun”inNovember,1969, and itwas alreadyailing,loosingcirculationand
out of touch withitsreadership.Underhisownership,the paperbeganpublishingsuggestivebutnot
nakedpicturesof youngladiesand,tocelebrate the firstanniversaryof hisownership, the firstnude
snap waspublished.
The picture of 20-year-oldGermanmodel StephanieRahncauseda sensationandcirculationsoared
to where itistoday,selling2.2millioncopiesaday.The picture wastakenby the newspaper’schief
photographerwhothenconcentratedhisartistictalentsonproducingsimilarandevenmore daring
picturesuntil hisretirementin2003. Just whyhe retiredisbeyondme,frankly.
Of course,othernewspapers,worriedaboutthe rise andrise of “The Sun”copiedthe ideabut
Murdoch didn’tgetto where he hasgottenby nottyingup any loose ends –“Page3” and “Page
Three” are registeredtrademarksof hiscompany.
Veryoften,the modelswereonly16or 17 and when “TheSun”startedpublishingthe picturesinfull
glowingcolour,circulationsurgedagain.
Far from “The Sun”not reflectingthe viewsof itsreaders,theymade itapointof givingthe punters
whattheywantedby,for example,onlyfeaturingmodelswithnatural breasts.Thisfollowedapoll
of readersandcertainly reflectedthe newspaper’ssensitivity andresponsibility,didn’tit?

2. Andwhile inthe beginningthere wasonlyone model,there weremore thana few occasionswhere
twoor more were featuredinall of theirnatural attractiveness.A special editionin2009 to
celebrate the 40th
anniversaryof the page 3 girlsfeaturedajaw-droppingfifteencomelybeauties
posingtogether. Needlesstosay,acollectors’edition.
But, sadly,timeschange andwiththe changingof the timescomesa changinginpublictastes.
In 2013, for example the editionsproducedforIrelandonlycarriedsnapsof clothedglamourmodels
and the newspapercited “culturaldifferences”asthe reason.That’sanotherway of sayingthat
overwhelminglyCatholicIrelandwasn’tthe bestplace toflog picturesof nakedwomen.
A rival newspaper,the “Daily Mirror”had copied “The Sun”byhavingitsveryown page three girls
but theydroppedthe feature inthe 1980s, deemingthe photographswere demeaningtowomen.
Thisprincipleddecisiondidnotdoanythingfortheircirculationatall – infact, quite the opposite.
Anothersignof the timesandchangingpublictasteswasthe decisionby “The Sun”wasto drop
captionswhichcontainedsexuallysuggestivedouble entendresandjustlistthe models’names,ages
and home towns.Irememberbuyingacopyof “The Sun”inLondononce whichfeaturedabusty
misssmilingbeautifullyandshamelesslywhile readinghercopyof the newspaper –the captionwas
“Tiffany likes to keep a breastof thenews”.Hilarious,wasn’titandso clever! Of course I hadbought
the newspaperforitsinterestingarticles.
Andso, isit all over?
Well no.While the nude lassieswillbe replacedwithsimilarlyheavily-petalledEnglishroses wearing
skimpy underwear,theirnude sisterswillstillbe available forinspectionattheirsubscribers-only
website. And“TheSun”hasindicatedthatif circulationfalls,well –I’msure youcan guess.
Andthat’s the nakedtruth.