To wide indignation on Fleet Street, Sir Ian suggested newspapers' blanket and emotive coverage of such cases, compared with the cursory treatment of… - Peter Wilby

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To wide indignation on Fleet Street, Sir Ian suggested newspapers' blanket and emotive coverage of such cases, compared with the cursory treatment of black children who go missing in the inner cities, betrayed institutional racism. Was he right? Perhaps it's not racism exactly but, if we are honest, the story is enhanced if the child is blonde, blue-eyed and nicely dressed, though no paper would dare to spell out the awful subtext: that a child who looks attractive to readers will also attract a potential abuser.

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About Peter Wilby

Peter John Wilby (born 7 November 1944) is a British journalist. He is a former editor of The Independent on Sunday (April 1995–October 1996) and the New Statesman (1998–2005). Wilby joined The Observer as a reporter in 1968. He was appointed as the newspaper's education correspondent around 1972, and subsequently worked in this field for the New Statesman (1975–77) and The Sunday Times (1977–1986). In August 2023, Wilby was convicted of making indecent images of children, some in the most serious category, and sentenced to 10 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Peter John Wilby
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Additional quotes by Peter Wilby

The New Statesman has now completed an internal review of all articles related to child sexual abuse that were published during Wilby’s editorship, or subsequently contributed by Wilby as a writer.
Approximately 19,000 articles were published during Wilby's seven years as editor, of which 126 have a significant reference to child sexual abuse or paedophilia. Of those 126 articles, 12 contain comments or arguments that could reasonably be interpreted as either minimising the seriousness of child sexual abuse, or as questioning the integrity of victims, whistle-blowers, police or journalists investigating allegations of sexual abuse of children. Four of the 12 remained available on newstatesman.com as of 18 August, and they have now been taken down.
Subsequent to his time as editor, Wilby contributed 659 columns or pieces to the New Statesman from 2006 to 2022, of which 37 contain a significant reference to child sexual abuse or paedophilia. Of those 37 articles, four contain arguments that the degree of public concern around child sexual abuse is out of proportion to the actual scope and scale of the horrendous crime. Those four articles have been taken down.

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