Mail and Sun attack internet ‘ghouls’ over Gary Speed rumours – and praise mainstream media’s ‘sympathetic’ coverage

The Sun and Mail Online both published articles today attacking the internet ‘ghouls’that spread ‘twisted rumours’about Gary Speed after his death last year- in contrast to the ‘sympathetic’coverage of the mainstream media.

It comes after Gary Speed’s brother-in-law Anthony Haylock backed an attack on the ‘totally unfounded rumours that swept across the internet’after Speed’s death, when he retweeted the following message from ex-Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan yesterday:

So, Gary Speed wasn’t gay, wasn’t having an affair, and wasn’t facing tabloid exposure. Nice work, Twitter. #RumourFail

On Monday, after Speed’s wife told the inquest into her husband’s death that the couple had rowed before his death, a coroner ruled Speed may not have meant to kill himself.

An article in today’s Sun said:

His [Speed’s] death in November rocked soccer. Ghouls who spread the twisted rumours about him knew millions were reading their lies. In contrast Speed’s family heaped praise on the mainstream media for its “sympathetic” handling of the tragedy.

In an editorial, The Times told how the internet had been “lit up with unsubstantiated rumours” – and warned of a society where “misinformation triumphs over truth”.

Tory MP Philip Davies also hit out at papers being cowed by Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry into press standards. He warned it was “leaving a large field clear to the unregulated internet and social media so people can peddle lots of things that are not true”.

Mail Online also quotes from The Times editorial, which states:

It cannot be helpful for the family to have all these lies peddled across the social media. I would prefer it if these things were reported responsibly.

It is critical, too, that we do not live in a society in which rumour takes the place of reporting, and misinformation triumphs over truth.