No more Page 3,thank you

Campaigners let their opinions be known outside The Sun offices (pic from guardian.co.uk)

Just as the conclusions of  Leveson inquiry are published, a campaign targeting  the British newspaper The Sun and its daily publication of what is infamously known as Page 3  is gathering pace.If you are not acquainted with what Page 3 means, you should know that it is a daily photograph of a topless young female model that has been published since the 70s. In the words of Dominic Mohe, The Sun editor, this is 'an innocuous British institution'.This makes me wonder what is the concept of institution that Mr Mohan has, though  in any case it seems to differ a lot from my own.
Not for the first time, a campaign is trying to get rid of what many people consider a blatant example of sexism in the media; in the past,  former Labour MP Claire Short  had to endure nasty comments coming from the newspaper itself when back in 1986,she raised this issue in the Commons-'fat, jealous Clare' were the words used then by the newspaper. This shows the ethics and class, once again, of the people behind this newspaper: when confronted with criticism their way is to respond with insults.
Many people object to this campaign on freedom of expression grounds and that old and tiring mantra 'if you don't like it, don't buy it'. However, and whilst fully acknowledging the need for freedom of the press, that argument misses the point as campaigners stress that their aim isn't to ban Page 3 but rather to raise awareness amongst newspaper editors -and more particularly The Sun's- to exert their influence and power more responsibly. Page 3, unfortunately, is not what you should expect from a national newspaper; the damaging effects, particularly on its male readers, help perpetuate the image of women as sexual, casual objects.
On top of all that, and  if we consider how women and their achievements are underrepresented on other fronts of the media (almost inexistent in some cases) then we have an explosive cocktail that may help explain  how sexism is still rife in the 21st century.
Perhaps Lord Leveson's proposal calling for statutory regulation of the press may not be a bad idea after all.