On Saturday 26th June 2010, the Saturday Sport printed a picture of a woman bent over and apparently showing her labia from behind on its front page. This so-called newspaper is on display every day in tens of thousands of newsagents across the UK, and because of its status as a newspaper is generally within easy sight and reach of children and young people where it is stocked. No age-restrictions apply for purchase of this newspaper.
It provides an easy gateway to pornography addiction for teens and pre-teens, since it contains a plethora of pornographic articles and advertising every day. Sylvia Brown, secretary of The Front Page Campaign said "At 50p the Daily Sport is highly accessible to children and young people, and inside it offers sex videos that can be downloaded onto their mobile phones for as little as 12p, 5p, 1p or sometimes even for free. It may say you have to be 18 in the small print, but that cannot be policed if children are using pay-as-you-go phones."
Gary Doran, Deputy Editor of the Daily Sport, said of the explicit picture "The allegations are patently untrue, anyone who looks with any care at the picture will be able to see that." The distressed and confused 8-year old girl from Wakefield whose mother reported the image did not think so. She exclaimed that it was "gross" as she spotted it on her way to buy sweets. When her mum asked why she thought it was gross she asked, "What if children come in and see people's privates?"
Amy King said "Gary Doran is like the tailor in the classic story The Emperor's New Clothes. There may be some fabric involved which is virtually undetectable to the naked eye, but to all intents and purposes, as the child said, the Emperor is stark naked.
"This newspaper alone is a huge contributor to the premature sexualisation of our children. Seeing these images every day desensitises them and promotes objectifying and unhealthy sexual relationships. Playboy pencil cases are bad - but this is worse."
The Front Page Campaign has condemned the Sport for apparently printing genitalia on its front page, and we will continue to call for meaningful regulation of printed media.