@Society of Editors: On poofs, whores and comic singers
Posted by
Ian Reeves
on 6 November 2006 at 17:02
Tags: Journalism
Alastair Bonnington, a lawyer for BBC Scotland, produced one of the most entertaining turns of the conference so far. Straying gloriously off topic, he raised eyebrows with his slightly less than politically correct views on the Tommy Sheridan libel win against the News of the World.
He was rather surprised, he said, that the NoW could have been quite so gobsmacked by the jury’s verdict in Sheridan’s favour.
The NoW’s procession of witnesses testifying against Sheridan, he said, put him in mind of an old legal saying in Scotland involving “poofs, whores and comic singers”.
“To produce a procession of prostitutes, people you’ve bunged money to and politicians and then be surprised when the verdict goes against you… well, shockarooney, as Frank MacAvennie might say.”
He did end with a serious point, however. At the end of the day, the public likes privacy, he said. There is a line to be drawn. That line must of course not affect genuine investigative journalism, but the era of wall-to-wall tales of who’s shagging who is coming to an end.
Tags: Journalism
