Updated 5pm
THERE ARE REPORTS that The Sun has stopped publishing pictures of topless models on page three.
The newspaper has not published a picture of a topless model on page three since Friday – after 44 years of doing so.
The Sun faced pressure from anti-sexism campaigners, politicians and student bodies claiming it was sexist.
The paper is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK and Murdoch himself described it as “old fashioned” last year.
The Guardian has reported that it had spoken to “a series of insiders” who said the feature has been dropped.
While The Times – which has the same publisher as The Sun – reported that the tabloid decided to quietly drop the feature.
However, the head of PR for the tabloid, David Sharpe, is tweeting about the reports calling them ‘speculation’:
However, very little clarity has been given by the paper on the issue:
A petition to stop The Sun publishing Page 3 gathered more than 217,000 signatures.
The No More Page 3 protest group wrote a message on its Facebook page which read:
Wow..we’re hearing the Sun may have dropped Pg3. This could be truly historic news and a great day for people power… We don’t know the details for sure and there’still lots to be done… But this could be a huge step for challenging media sexism.
Today’s edition features Hollyoaks actresses running along a beach in their bikinis. However, readers are told to go online to see “Page 3 Lucy from London”.
The Irish edition of The Sun dropped Page 3 in 2013. The Sun’s Irish editor, Paul Clarkson, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland last year that he was listening to readers and that there were ‘cultural differences’ between Ireland and Britain.
He also said his decision was commercial and was about the need to retain sales and the possibility of attracting new buyers.
The news has seen huge comment online, with a range of opinions:
A Fine Gael councillor who criticised ‘feminazis’ for the change later apologised for his comments.
What do you think of the move?
Additional reporting by Aoife Barry
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