Talksport’s Colin Murray has today resigned from his post as a presenter at the radio station in protest at its acquisition by Sun owners News Corp.
Liverpool FC supporter Murray used the hashtag #JFT96 to make the announcement on Twitter, understood to mean “Justice for the 96” in reference to those killed in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
Murray made clear his resignation was “due to a change of ownership”. It comes just two weeks after News Corp struck a £220m deal to buy Talksport from previous owners Wireless Group.
Claiming he had been offered a new contract until 2019, Murray said: “While there are parts of News Corp that aren’t a problem, it is the inevitable future working relationship between Talksport and The Sun that has made my position unsustainable.
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Colin Murray’s tweet
“Commercially, I delivered all-time record ratings and, creatively, I was left alone to mould a show of which I was intensely proud.”
The Sun famously carried a front page report falsely accusing Liverpool fans of acting disgracefully during the fatal crush that occurred during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s home ground.
As a result, some fans of the club have boycotted the daily tabloid ever since. Then editor Kelvin MacKenzie later described the story as a “fundamental mistake”.
In April, an inquest into the disaster returned a verdict that the 96 victims were “unlawfully killed”. It came after 27 years of campaigning for justice from the families.
The Sun has officially apologised for its coverage of the disaster on two occasions, but it came under criticism for not putting the inquest outcome on its front page when other national titles did.
An exclusive partnership with Talksport made the Sun the official sponsor of presenter Alan Brazil’s paper review during Euro 2016.
The deal, which featured Sun journalists giving pre-match interviews and a post-match phone-in show with expert Sun insight and analysis, was struck before the recent takeover announcement.
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