BONG...
South Yorkshire police incompetent 27 years ago, dishonest ever since.
BONG...
SUN Newspaper, a bunch of lying, cheating, sensationalist, scum 27 years ago and a bunch of lying, cheating, sensationalist, scum 27 years later.
According to Peter Chippindale and Chris Horrie in their definitive history Stick it Up Your Punter - the Rise and Fall of the Sun, MacKenzie spent an unusual amount of time deliberating over the fateful headline for that day's paper.
"MacKenzie then did an enormously uncharacteristic thing. He sat for fully half an hour thinking about the front page layout."
According to the book he pondered two headlines, one that was rejected reading "You Scum", and the one that was eventually used - and was to prove the biggest disaster for the paper's reputation and sales: "The Truth".
A team of about 18 journalists and photographers had been sent to cover the story, and although reporter Harry Arnold sought out MacKenzie to caution against reporting allegations as truth, MacKenzie pressed on.
Having decided to lay the blame on the fans' doorsteps, there was no stopping him.
Under the headline "The Truth" there were three subheadings:
Some fans picked pockets of victims
Some fans urinated on the brave cops
Some fans beat up PCs giving the kiss of life
The story read as follows: "Drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims of the Hillsborough soccer disaster, it was revealed last night.
"Police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon by a hooligan element in the crowd.
"Some thugs rifled the pockets of injured fans as they were stretched out unconscious on the pitch.
All of it lies. Concocted by Police and Sun reporters to deflect blame.
As a Manchester United fan I must take my hat off (just this once you understand?) to the people of Liverpool rejecting the SUN newspaper in their city ever since.
Heaven knows there has been enough reason for every other city to reject it, on that story and other subsequent ones.
I wonder whether it would be possible for me to ever truly like someone who I knew bought the SUN?