LONDON (AP) – The head of a major British press organization has resigned over his response to a television interview with Meghan and Harry, the second UK media figure to emerge amid heated debate over accusations of racism and bias of the royal couple.
Ian Murray said he was stepping down as executive director of the Society of Editors after publishing a statement that many felt was minimizing the problem of racism in the media. –
Murray said Wednesday afternoon that the statement, which accused Harry and Meghan of launching an attack on the press, “could have been much clearer in its condemnation of bigotry and has clearly caused discomfort.”
“As executive director, I run the Society and as such I have to take the blame and therefore I have decided that it is better for the board and members to set aside for the organization to start rebuilding the its reputation, ”he said.
In the interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan and Harry talked about the intense pressure of media scrutiny and suggested that there was a racist element in the coverage of the Biracial Duchess. Harry also said the British royal family was “scared” by the tabloid press, which said it exercised “control over fear”.
The Society of Editors, an umbrella group of nearly 400 newspapers and other media outlets, issued a heavily worded statement about the interview, saying that “British media are not fanatics and will not be influenced by their vital role in forcing the rich and the powerful to account “after the attack on the press of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
But some journalists disagreed. More than 160 reporters and editors signed a letter saying the Society of Publishers “denied” racism. Katherine Viner, editor of The Guardian, said the media needed to be “much more representative and more self-aware.”
ITV news presenter Charlene White stopped celebrating the company’s annual press awards, saying the organization had asked her to get involved to improve her diversity, but she didn’t keep her words.
“I only work with organizations that practice what they preach,” he said.
“Since the Black Lives Matter movement was really consolidated in the UK last year, all institutions in this country have finally had to look at their failures and their position in terms of how they treat ethnic minorities, both within as outside its walls. But for some unknown reason, it feels as if the British press is exempt from this discussion. ”
Murray’s departure follows Piers Morgan’s departure from the TV show “Good Morning Britain” amid a clamor for his comments about Meghan.
Morgan, a former tabloid editor, stopped working on Tuesday, a day after saying “I don’t think he says a word” in reference to Meghan’s interview. The Duchess told Winfrey that she was so miserable during her time as a working member of the royal family that she had suicidal thoughts and claimed that she had not received the support of the palace staff.
The UK media watchdog said it had received more than 41,000 complaints about Morgan’s comments.