Did The Sun Go Too Far With Its Oscar Pistorius Front Page?

The Sun newspaper in Great Britain is facing public backlash over the front page of its Friday edition.

The choice by the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid to report on Oscar Pistorius' arrest by splashing a full-page bikini photo of his dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has prompted condemnation and calls for apology -- an online petition for which has already collected more than 2,400 signees.

Critics of the front page have included politicians ...

https://twitter.com/ChrisBryantMP/statuses/302218207203295232

https://twitter.com/johnprescott/statuses/302225186466430976

... and feminist voices ...

https://twitter.com/suzanne_moore/statuses/302217870614614016

https://twitter.com/EllieCumbo/status/302203857038082048

https://twitter.com/PennyRed/status/302393510278074369

... and just plain proponents of human decency.

https://twitter.com/jackiekabler/status/302366761217581056

https://twitter.com/ClareBCoffey/status/302447768700596224

It's also prompted acerbic commentary: "If only a hot woman could get murdered every day," wrote Marina Hyde for The Guardian, "then the Sun wouldn't need Page 3."

It should be noted that both the New York Post and New York Daily News published similar front pages on Friday with a fraction of the backlash.

The Sun