(Newser)
– The BBC apologized for a headline it posted about Phil Spector’s death. When news of Spector’s death surfaced over the weekend, the news organization quickly posted a headline that read, “The talented but flawed producer Phil Spector dies at 81.” However, complaints soon followed, with critics accusing the BBC of covering up the 2009 Spector murder conviction. British pop star Lily Allen was among them. “Rolling my eyes at all the newspapers that deliberately downplay Phil Spector as a killer in their headlines, so everyone (points) to that while calling his articles, resulting in a lot of clicks,” she tweeted. But she was far from alone. O London Economic brings together other criticisms, including several references that had the name of serial killer Fred West as a trend.
“Fred West was not a ‘talented but flawed’ builder,” says one tweet. BBC editors soon agreed. “The breaking news about Phil Spector’s death was published with a headline that did not meet our editorial standards,” says the statement. “This was changed in minutes and we also deleted a tweet that had automatically come out with the original title. We apologize for this error.” The new headline: “Pop producer arrested for murder dies at 81.” The opposite of the original BBC headline can be found on Digital Fix: “Lana Jean Clarkson’s killer dies in prison,” he says. (Read more Phil Spector stories.)