Editorial 01 August 2024.
Thursday’s front pages lead with the news that the former BBC news presenter, Huw Edwards, has pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
Almost all the papers – tabloids and broadsheets – lead with the shocking story, which only came to light earlier this week.
The ongoing riots over the Southport knife attack make several front pages, as locals of the area and some of the victim’s families express anger over the violence from the protesters.
Elsewhere, the front pages feature images from yesterday’s Olympics – a day to remember for Team GB which picked up five medals on Wednesday, including two golds. Team GB’s success dominates the back pages.
‘Huw Edwards child abuse pics’
The Mirror says ‘Huw’s child abuse pics shame.’ The front splash reports that Huw could face jail for images of kids as young as 7. The paper calls it a “catastrophic fall from grace.”
The Sun – along with many of the papers – has an image of Edwards arriving at court. “Guilty,” says the headline. In July 2023, the Sun broke an unrelated story alleging that Edwards had paid a young person for sexually explicit images. The Met Police said they found no evidence of criminal behaviour about those allegations, and that the current case was separate.
The Daily Express says “I’m guilty”. The paper describes Huw Edwards as “disgraced” and “emotionless”.
The Guardian says the 62-year-old faces a prison sentence. The Times says BBC insiders have described Edwards’s downfall as “embarrassing” and “a nightmare.”
The Daily Mail asks “Who knew about Huw?”. The paper focuses on the questions being asked of BBC bosses after the former presenter’s guilty plea to what it calls “vile” child abuse images.
The Daily Telegraph also questions the BBC, following reports last week that Edward had received a £40,000 pay rise whilst being suspended.
The i news says “BBC in turmoil,” as it references an urgent meeting between the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and the BBC director-general Tim Davie, saying Nandy “wants answers.”
‘Southport stabbing riots’
Some of the papers continue their coverage of the aftermath of the mass stabbing in Southport as riots break out being led by the English Defence League.
The Metro leads with a plea from the mother of one of the victims of the stabbing. The paper says Jenni Stancombe has called for an end to the rioting. She is the mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, who was killed during the attack. She calls the police heroes and says her family, and the families of the other victims “don’t need this”.
The Daily Mail says a Russian-linked fake news website is spreading lies about the person behind the stabbing attack – which fuelled the riots and led to a mosque being attacked. The paper says the website claimed the attacker was a migrant on an M16 watchlist.
‘Escalation in the Middle East’
The ongoing crisis in the Middle East leads the Guardian, which says there are “fears of escalation” in the Middle East after airstrikes killed Hamas’ leader and a senior commander in Beirut in the space of 12 hours. Iran – which backs Hezbollah – blamed Israel for the deaths. Israel hasn’t commented.
The FT says “Iran vows revenge on Israel” for killing Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an overnight air strike in Tehran, according to Iranian media. It reports that there are fears of “full-blown” war in the region.