Hillsborough - Further Textual Analysis

This BBC news report from late 2012 focuses upon retelling the events of the disaster and what came through matter of reports and courts cases leading up to the fresh enquiry in late 2012, the time this article was released. "The authorities' response to the disaster was slow and badly co-ordinated." This quote from the article sums up the response from the police who were numerous in the ground on the day and that this simple fact was recognised at the time of the disaster. At the time it was said that rescue teams of fire-fighters and so on could not enter the ground due to "crowd trouble", to further enforce this point made The Sun newspaper at the time published an article now ironically called the truth in which it describes disgusting actions from the fans against the police and other teams of people trying to assist. What can be understood from the unfolding of events at the time is that the police were viewed as just doing their duty and trying to help but the Liverpool fans did not allow this and abused them also. This, with the released press articles as well represented the police in a positive light over the event for doing the best they could with a bad situation and successfully revealed that the Liverpool fans were the ones at fault. This became the cover up story that remained in place for around twenty five years.

There were inquests into the disaster in 1991 and 2012 which gradually revealed and criticised the police for the part they played in the event and recognised finally in 2012 that there was a police cover up of the event in which statements from officers had been altered to reflect a negative light onto the Liverpool fans. This clearly opened up the gates to a huge amount of criticism towards the police in general and the South Yorkshire branch in particular, criminal cases were called against those involved at the time. Theses happening again since the cases for manslaughter against two officers in the 1990's that had no end results.

This final revealing of what really happened at Hillsborough clearly gave a sigh of relief for the families that had been hard done by for two and a half decades after having lost loved ones and friends. The police force over the nation suffering heavy criticism and apologies were given from near enough every level of the hierarchy from the Prime Minister to chief constables and other high up officers, the leading officer in South Yorkshire was forced into retirement through the 2012 cases to show further respect towards the people who's lives had been ruined. What was also suspected at a later time was that officers from the time would have to face some form of court case and conviction for essentially criminal acts. 


This second article from the Liverpool Echo is again another contemporary one that focuses around the events of Hillsborough in 1989. This is just a smaller story on an event that triggered some outrage from the centre of all the happenings in Liverpool. A person had decided to rant about how bad people from Liverpool are and that the video he had recorded and posted also contained disturbing views towards the events that occurred at Hillsborough. The article having been released in much later 2012 (Dec 29th) means that this was made after the fresh inquests into what truly happened at Hillsborough so the subject had again become extremely sensitive and the police knew this. In light of again the police showing respect to the families of those lost and dealing with the emotional subject with discipline the man was arrested for the video he had made at a very sensitive time over Hillsborough. 

This article allows the police to shed a bit more justice for the families of Hillsborough through knowing that anyone that disrespects what happened will certainly be punished and that with the police in a way being in debt to these people and being sorry for what happened should take harsh action on what happened. If this digital attack would have occurred a couple of years ago the offender may have been more let off with their rant but he chose a sensitive time, and a time the police were taking much stick and having to in a way dig themselves out of a big hole.