OBJECT Press Release
21.1.2015
OBJECT calls for an end to ‘Page 3’ of The Star. #Page3isnotOK OBJECT has welcomed the statement of Nicky Morgan MP, the Women and Equality Minister, regarding the Sun of Page 3 of the Sun being taken down: "This is a long-overdue decision and marks a small but significant step towards improving media portrayal of women and girls. I very much hope it remains permanent." With News UK deciding to drop ‘Page 3’ of the Sun, OBJECT has today launched a petition asking Richard Desmond, owner of Northern and Shell, to end the anomaly of Page 3 of the Daily Star. The petition calls for the next step to be taken, and states: It’s not OK to 'pornify' our media.
It’s not OK because women and girls are more than their breasts and bottoms; It’s not OK to have Page 3 of the Daily Star; It’s not OK to juxtapose images of naked or partially clad women with stories about sexual violence; It’s not OK to have to have a TV programme called Teen Castings on your porn channel Television X.
The petition can be found on Change.org here Beti Baraki, OBJECT’s Campaigns and Outreach Officer, said “We welcome the decision by News UK. However, topless, objectifying images of women persist in the Daily Star. There are widespread public concerns over porn and the ritual sexual objectification of women across all media platforms. We know that the mainstreaming of porn, which commonly depicts acts of aggression towards women both physical and verbal, plays a huge role in portraying women as sex objects and also making violence against women seem normal. This has an impact on how women everywhere are viewed and treated – this is not a trivial matter”. The hashtag and phrase “#Page3isnotOK” has been chosen to highlight the wide media influence that Northern and Shell has in normalising media sexism & pornography across its portfolio, which includes ownership of the magazine OK! and the Health Lottery. Beti Baraki added, “Object believes the presence of the Daily Star on news stands helps normalise pornographic consumption, contributes to a culture which trivialises objectification and violence against women, and is at odds with the Bailey Review recommendations on the sexualisation of children.” ENDS For more information or press requests, please contact OBJECT on 07944 627 925 or at campaigns@object.org.uk. Notes to editors OBJECT is an award-winning organisation that campaigns to end the sexual objectification of women in the media and popular culture, the mainstreaming of the sex industries and all forms of commercial sexual exploitation by combining high-end lobbying and grassroots activism. www.object.org.uk Object gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry and, with partners, produced the ‘Just the Women’ report on media reporting of violence against women and links to sexual objectification http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/data/files/resources/51/Just-the-Women-Nov-2012.pdf ‘Basically porn is everywhere”, Office of the Children’s Commissioner , 2013 http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_667
The Northern & Shell Media Group owns national newspaper titles and celebrity magazines, including: OK!, New!, The Express and The Star. It also owns ‘Portland TV’ which has trademark brands ‘Television X’ and ‘Red Hot TV’. It is common for the Daily Star to carry adverts for Television X programmes, e.g. p40 of the Daily Star dated 20.1.15.: Teen Castings is on Television X every Friday at 10,10pm, and advertises on Twitter using @TVXmole with tweets such as “#TeenCastings - Young Girls Getting F****d By Older guy #CastingAgents #Porn #BoyGirl #Teens”. Richard Desmond, founder of Northern and Shell, has previously published pornographic magazines ‘Penthouse’ and ‘Asian Babes’. Another Northern and Shell brand is the Health Lottery http://www.northernandshell.co.uk/the-healthlottery