2023-07-19 22:54:08
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It began with an allegation by a tabloid that an unnamed BBC presenter had paid an unidentified young man thousands of pounds to receive “scandalous pictures”.
The police found no evidence of criminal activity, as under UK law it is an “offence” to possess sexual images of a person under the age of 18.
The broadcaster, who has been charged, is now said to be in hospital following a serious mental health episode.
The BBC’s Hanan Abdel Razek in London analyzes what the broadcaster’s case reveals regarding the power of British tabloids and social media to capture the public’s attention and set the news agenda.
When I got to the office on the Monday following the story broke, I found a long line of journalists and reporters outside the BBC buildings with their cameras.
It struck me that I didn’t know more regarding the facts of the story than they did, despite it being regarding the BBC.
I met two of my colleagues at the BBC who were also covering the story.
One was assigned to wait outside the building to “ambush” our general manager Tim Davie with some key questions: What on earth is going on? How long has the BBC known regarding this? Why wasn’t the announcer arrested earlier?
The BBC was forced to follow up on the story following it emerged that it had received a complaint from the parents of the young man in question in May. It took the BBC around seven weeks from the time it received the complaints to inform the presenter of the allegations. She only stopped him following the story appeared in The Sun tabloid.
Since then, further allegations relating to Edwards have appeared in reports by both The Sun and BBC News. He is alleged to have sent “threatening” messages to a person in their 20s, visited someone else during the coronavirus lockdown, and sent inappropriate messages to three BBC staff. The BBC said its internal investigation would continue.
BBC News found itself in the thick of the story but also hounded it like any other news outlet.
BBC correspondents who wanted a statement from their company were directed to the press office responsible for publishing press releases.
The Director-General’s colleagues were interviewed on the radio and asked some serious questions regarding the lessons the BBC should learn from its handling of the complaint.
But perhaps there are lessons here for all of us regarding the interaction of traditional news organisations, British newspapers and social media.
PA Media The ‘extraordinary’ media landscape in Britain
If we look at the media in the United Kingdom, we will find the BBC within the traditional media, and it is funded by a fixed license fee that the people of the United Kingdom pay with their television sets.
Then there are the other major channels – Channel 4, ITV and Sky.
Newspapers are divided into “broadsheets”, so called because they were printed in large format, which tend to cover more serious subjects, such as The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and the Financial Times.
You have tabloids which are usually ‘small’ in shorter text, lots of color photos with a focus on celebrities and ‘hot’ topics. Such newspapers as the Daily Mirror and The Sun are owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
BBC arts and media correspondent David Sillitto says: “British tabloids have a long history of bold, loud and irreverent reporting. The style and tone of the papers are quite different, but it is worth noting that both The Sun and the more serious Times, owned by Rupert Murdoch, have a long history of Reversing Murdoch’s critical views on the BBC: stories that appear on the front page of newspapers can set a news agenda that then spreads to other parts of the media, including the BBC.
But this key role in sparking debate and stimulating public opinion has gone hand in hand with questions of journalistic ethics.
“For years The Sun was the UK’s biggest-selling newspaper with a mix of scandal and pictures of topless women, some of them themselves teenagers,” says Silito.
He adds: “The Sun claimed it helped the Conservatives win the 1992 election – worn as a sign of pride, but also a source of anger for many who see them as a malignant force in British society.”
In 1989, the FA Cup semi-final football match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest ended in disaster. Due to overcrowding at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, northern England, which led to a severe collapse in the lower tier of the stadium, causing the death of 97 Liverpool fans.
It was alleged that The Sun’s coverage of the events was “biased and false” following suggesting that the deaths were “football fans’ fault”. Even following 34 years, many Liverpool fans and residents still refuse to read The Sun.
The Sun’s report on the Hugh Edwards story was also criticized.
The police issued a statement saying there was “no evidence” of a criminal offense in relation to the allegations made regarding Edwards by The Sun, and Sillitto says this raises questions regarding the newspaper’s story: What evidence do they have? Did they approach the broadcaster that he provided the pictures?
Lawyers who say they represent the person issued a statement calling The Sun’s story “nonsense”.
What regarding social media?
Since the story was posted on Friday, a similar story has surfaced on social media. Neither The Sun nor the BBC nor other British media named the broadcaster following the initial allegations emerged.
This happened because a range of privacy and defamation laws governed how the British media reported stories and identified the subjects of allegations. But in the virtual world on social media, the guessing game started in the first minute since the news spread.
Many social media users have started a game of guessing the name of the presenter in question.
PA Media Jeremy Vine, a BBC radio presenter, was one of those who cleared the charges following the news broke.
“One of the key parts of the BBC anchor’s story was the mystery of his identity,” says Silito.
“A few years ago there might have been a small talk in a pub or a garden, but secrets might be kept pretty much a secret. Now, with social media, the name of the presenter in a few days was all over the place. But also there were false accusations. regarding other broadcasters.
The pressure on social media mounted to such an extent that other BBC broadcasters began to distance themselves from the scandal: popular sports presenter Gary Lineker and radio presenter Jeremy Vine were among those who came out and said “it wasn’t me”.
Some BBC broadcasters called on the broadcaster in question to name himself for the sake of his colleagues.
Five days following the story broke, Vicky Fland, the accused broadcaster’s wife, issued a statement saying that her husband was involved in these dramatic events.
Who is Hugh Edwards?
Considered the ‘Face of the BBC’, Hugh Edwards presents the BBC’s flagship news bulletin at 10pm.
He joined the BBC in 1984 and is one of the BBC’s highest paid presenters, with a salary of around £435,000 a year.
He led coverage of many news events, including the Queen’s funeral and elections, and was the voice behind the coronation of King Charles III.
It has been praised as a presenter that conveys confidence, authority, and credibility.
His wife says Edwards is now in hospital and being treated for some serious mental health issues. Hugh has spoken in the past regarding his personal struggles with depression.
His common-law wife has pleaded to respect the privacy of her family and those involved in the case.
Police said they had found no evidence to suggest a criminal offense had been committed, but for more than a week, the public opinion story has been circulating in the British courts.
The whole story leaves many questions regarding the role that traditional media, or the tabloid, should play in the lives of real people.
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