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Regional journalists praised as Hillsborough coverage goes national

Regional journalists have won praise after their work on the Hillsborough disaster inquest verdicts was featured in a national sister title.

Bob Westerdale, sports editor at The Star, Sheffield, and Chris Burn, a senior reporter at the newspaper, had their work featured in newly-acquired Johnston Press national the i yesterday.

An analysis piece written by Bob, who was a news reporter on The Star at the time of the tragedy in 1989, was run by the i on page seven of yesterday’s edition.

And Chris’s report on secret cabinet papers being examined by the Independent Police Complaints Commission as part of an investigation into an alleged cover-up of the reasons’ behind the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool supporters, also featured.

Star Hillsborough

Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield posted on Twitter that it was “good to see content sharing” between the two titles.

Bob and Chris’s work was also carried in a special 16-page supplement published by The Star yesterday, pictured above, after a jury in Warrington returned a verdict of unlawful killing for all 96 who died.

Chris, who was in Warrington for the verdicts, told HTFP: “”I’m pleased that the Sheffield Star’s extensive coverage of the Hillsborough disaster, which we are very proud of, was also picked up by our colleagues at the i so it could reach a wider audience.”

The Star’s front page, pictured below, was also the first to be discussed on Radio 4’s Today programme’s newspaper review yesterday morning.

96 Sheffield

Editor Nancy Fielder said: “We are all particularly proud of Wednesday’s Star. It was packed full of in-depth, quality journalism which not only reflected on all the inquest verdicts but also gave a voice to the people of Sheffield.

“The coverage by our team was second to none and that was reflected by the scramble of other media desperate to talk to us as soon as the paper hit the street.

“Everyone in Sheffield remembers that awful day and lots are still scarred by what they witnessed. There were many Sheffielders who did all they could to help and nobody in this city will ever forget those who died or were injured at what should have been just an ordinary football match.

“But the inquest verdicts lead to many extremely serious questions for the city and it is our job to keep raising that on behalf of our readers.”

4 comments

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  • April 28, 2016 at 11:25 am
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    Read The Star’s coverage yesterday. It was top class.

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  • April 28, 2016 at 11:58 am
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    Obviously, I haven’t read everything about Hillsborough in the 27 years since that fateful day, but has any comment ever been made by the news agency that allegedly provided the source material for The Sun’s disgraceful story?
    Just interested.

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  • April 29, 2016 at 3:37 pm
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    When the i was acquired, Mr Minim on here made the point that regional journalists were not up to national standards.
    I disagreed and so did Westerdale. The fact his work has been picked up by the i might just cause a rethink from Mr M?

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