The BBC apologized shortly after publishing the soft headline: “The talented, but flawed, producer Phil Spector dies at 81.”
Referring to the killer who shot actress Lana Clarkson in the mouth as merely “imperfect”, the BBC was immediately struck by a reaction, including an article in The Guardian entitled “Phil Spector was not a ‘defective genius’ – he was an assassin “, and a tweet from singer Lily Allen:
The BBC immediately changed its headline to “Pop Producer Arrested for Murder Dies at 81” and said: “We apologize for this mistake” and that the headline “did not meet our editorial standards”.
From the BBC:
Reacting to the original version of the BBC story, pop star Lily Allen tweeted: “Rolling my eyes at all the newspapers deliberately downplaying Phil Spector as a killer in his headlines, so everyone points that out while calling his articles, resulting in a lot of clicks.”
“He murdered Lana Clarkson” posted Labor MP Apsana Begum. “Unforgivable reporting.”
“How about ‘Killer, Phil Spector dies at 81’?” offered the author and historian Hallie Rubenhold.
The headline was also discussed on TV and radio shows on Monday, including Loose Women and Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, and spawned an article on the Guardian.
The phrase in the BBC article – and others like it – was “a reflection of how a man’s ‘genius’ is often seen as more important than a woman’s humanity,” said columnist Arwa Mahdawi.
Image: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation