Channel 4 News tonight features Alex Thomson doorstepping former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie at his Surrey pile to quiz him about his infamous Hillsborough THE TRUTH front page.
In a piece of old-fashioned foot-in-the door journalism, Thomson shoves himself in the way of MacKenzie's attempt to close his own car door as he peppers him with questions about the events of 23 years ago in The Sun newsroom.
Here's the video:
And here are Thomson's Twitter updates from this afternoon:
- #c4news am at his home in Surrey – alrge detached house, Mercedes 4×4 in drive
- K Mackenzie told #c4news to "f**k off"
- #c4news called again and he said "you're not setting the agenda Alex"
- #c4news I asked why he was afraid and he said "I'm not afraid" as he disappeared further into his house having shut the door
- #c4news I asked why he's disregarded his own journalists over Hillsborough headline 'The Truth'. He did not answer.
- #c4news doorstepped K Mackenzie again by jamming self between him in driver's seat and open car door
- K Mackenzie tells #c4news "Please Alex, this isn't reasonable". Declines to expain himself over Hillsborough
- #c4news tonight K Mackenzie's response to questions about#Hillsborough. Was to hit me repeatedly with his car door.
- #c4news tonight he only stopped when I pointed out he was assaulting me
4pm update: Writing on his Channel 4 News blog Thomson explains more about the background to the encounter:
Channel 4 News repeatedly called him requesting an interview. We called yesterday in person to relay that message to him via his family at his large house in a private development in Surrey.
This morning I arrived there. I went straight to his house without any camera or recording equipment and asked Mr Mackenzie if he would kindly put on camera the remarks in his statement last week and generally give his side of the story.
Mr Mackenzie explained he was in the middle of writing an article forThe Spectator and did not wish to do a TV interview with me. He then added: “F*** off.”
So I did. But not far. Just around the corner in fact to meet our cameraman and put on a radio microphone.
It's not the first time the former Sun editor has been monstered on video in recent months.
Former Daily Star reporter Richard Peppiatt interviewed MacKenzie posing as a foreign journalist as part of a video which featured in his Edinburgh Festival show last month.
After setting the interview up on a fake pretext, Peppiatt began quoting from an apparently flirtatious email exchange between MacKenzie and a woman who was not his wife. When he clocked what was going on MacKenzie terminated the interview in good humour.
Kelvin apologised over The Sun’s Hillsborough coverage for (I believe) the first time last week following publication of the Hillsborough report. Whereas many news agencies reported the allegations from police sources and MP Conservative MP Irvine Patnick, MacKenzie gave them maximum topspin with his THE TRUTH front page, with the result that even today Sun sales on Merseyside have not recovered.
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