shock - sun columnist writes for the sun

Date: 28 February 2012 23:30:03

Forty blogs of Lent

7

Archbishop of York John Sentamu has written a column in the Sun On Sunday, the newspaper that replaces the now defunct News of the World. This is how Ekklesia has reported it: (I'm taking advantage of their Creative Commons licence to do this.)

I remember having a conversation with Giles Fraser a couple of years ago about writing for the Daily Mail. He has always been of the opinion that you can legitimately take an opportunity to write – even if it’s for a publication whose values you strongly disagree with. The Archbishop of York’s column in the new Sun on Sunday goes way beyond that debate. It isn’t just about writing for the new Murdoch paper to replace NOTW. He has gone one stage further and endorsed the new publication, and for that matter the Monday to Saturday Sun newspaper at the same time. Not just implicitly, but explicitly. This is how he introduces his column: “When I think that we can now get the latest news, politics and sports stories seven days a week from our country’s favourite paper, all I can say is 'WOW!' " Bishop John Davies has already publicly criticised John Sentamu's decision this morning on BBC1’s Big Questions, saying that he should think again. The Archbishop meanwhile has been justifying what he has done, on Twitter, pointing out that he is giving the money he earns from the column to charity, and reiterating that he feels that it is important to give people the chance of a fresh start. Fresh starts are important. By his own admission however, this is not so much a fresh start as an extension of the Monday-Saturday Sun. He knows the values of the paper. He knows the way it treats vulnerable groups. He knows the way it portrays women. He has chosen not just to write for it, but to celebrate it, and give it his public endorsement - some will say, his blessing.

Has the Archbishop endorsed the paper? In calling the our country’s favourite paper he has not said that the sun is his favourite paper, just acknowledged that it has the largest circulation in the UK. If you want to read what the Archbishop said, the column is on his website. People are shocked that the Archbishop has written for the Sun on Sunday. Why? John Sentamu is already an occasional columnist in the Sun. His last column, as far as I am aware, was a Christmas greeting in the 24 December edition. Has the Archbishop gone over to the Murdoch camp? It seems unlikely. A spokesman for the Archbishop said in the Daily Telegraph of 28 February, "It is not the practice of the archbishop to write exclusively for any one newspaper.” So the Archbishop will write an occasional column in the Sun on Sunday in much the same way that he has written an occasional column in the Sun. He will continue to write for other papers too. If the Archbishop The fuss about his column in the first Sun on Sunday is like this headline: Shock: Sun Columnist writes for the Sun So when you hear or see people making a fuss about the Archbishop's column, move along, there's nothing to see.