John Sweeney (journalist)
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
John Sweeney | |
---|---|
![]() Sweeney in 2010
|
|
Born | 1958 (age 65–66) England |
Nationality | British |
Education | London School of Economics |
Occupation | Journalist |
Years active | 1996–present |
Title | Investigative Journalist for BBC |
Website | bbc |
John Sweeney (born 1958) is a British journalist and author. He has worked for The Observer newspaper, the BBC's Newsnight and continues to work as an investigative journalist for the BBC's Panorama series.
Contents
Education
Sweeney was educated at Barton Peveril Grammar School,[1] a state grammar school in Eastleigh, Hampshire, followed by the London School of Economics.[2]
Investigative journalism
Sweeney worked for twelve years at The Observer newspaper, where he covered wars and revolutions in more than sixty countries including Romania, Algeria, Iraq, Chechnya, Burundi and Bosnia.[citation needed]
Barclay brothers suit
In 1996, Sweeney was sued for criminal defamation in France by the Barclay brothers, owners of The Daily Telegraph, but the claimants lost their case. At the time, Sweeney worked for the rival newspaper The Observer, and had given an interview on BBC Radio Guernsey alleging that they had been involved in corruption.[3] The claimaints justified their legal claim in the French courts on the basis that the broadcast could also be heard in a small coastal part of northern France, although this was widely considered forum shopping. Sweeney was ordered to pay €3,000 by the appeal court in Rennes, France.[4]
Career at the BBC
Sweeney was a BBC employee from 2001 to 2014,[5] but continues to be involved in producing BBC Panorama programmes after 2014.[6]
Zimbabwe
After formally joining the BBC in 2001, Sweeney reported on mass graves in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe for the BBC in 2002. By then Mugabe had banned BBC reporters from the country, forcing Sweeney to hide in a car boot to travel to a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition.[7]
Cot death investigation
Sweeney spent four years investigating the cases of Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and Donna Anthony, three women who had been falsely imprisoned for killing their children. Sweeney's investigation helped to clear their names, and led to Sir Roy Meadow, the expert witness whose testimony had proved decisive in their convictions, being temporarily struck off the General Medical Council's medical register. Sweeney received the Paul Foot Award in 2005 in recognition of his work.[8]
Investigative report on Scientology
"Scientology and Me", a Panorama investigation into Scientology written and presented by Sweeney, was aired on BBC One on Monday, 14 May 2007. Prior to its airing, video footage filmed by the Church of Scientology was released on YouTube[9] and on DVD[10] that showed Sweeney shouting at Scientology representative Tommy Davis during a visit to CCHR's exhibition "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death". The clips were sections of a documentary the Church of Scientology's Freedom Magazine TV produced about the BBC Panorama programme.[11][12][13]
Sweeney remarked that he lost his temper due to days of harassment by Davis and the Church, and a strong personal reaction to the psychiatry exhibit. He had been visited at his hotel by Davis, despite not having shared the address with the Church, and had been followed on several different occasions.[14] Sweeney labelled the clips "attack videos" and others say they were produced to discredit him and the documentary.[15]
The BBC in response aired its own full recording of the incident.[16] Panorama's Editor Sandy Smith explained what happened and how the BBC dealt with the incident in a post on the BBC's Editor's Blog.[17] An internal BBC investigation found that Sweeney's conduct at one point in the filming was clearly inappropriate, but also noted that Sweeney had apologised for his outburst and concluded that as a whole, filming of the documentary had been performed in a proper and fair manner.[18][19] Later on that same year in the BBC Panorama year in review Sweeney said "..a new generation is making up its own mind, and for that I make no apology".
In a segment on BBC Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent broadcast in March 2008, Sweeney paid tribute to the late Scientology critic Shawn Lonsdale, who had died, apparently from suicide, a few weeks before. Sweeney looked back at the life of Lonsdale, and his eventful interview for the Scientology and Me programme that had been filmed only the previous spring.
This time as a part of a rehearsed joke, Sweeney goes into a similar outburst in January 2009 when being interviewed on Radio 4 about the Tom Cruise film Valkyrie—clearly referring to the episode two years previously.[20]
A follow-up Panorama programme also hosted by Sweeney, which at an hour is twice the length of the original one, was aired on 28 September 2010. This documentary contained interviews with high profile ex-scientologists Mike Rinder and Marty Rathbun. Rinder in particular explained the tactics used by the church during the making of the previous documentary, while Rathbun primarily discussed the allegations of David Miscavige assaulting other members of the church. Rinder had been involved in the Scientology organisation's stalking of Sweeney.[21]
North Korea Uncovered
In an undercover visit to North Korea, Sweeney posed as an academic from the London School of Economics whilst travelling with a party of students from the university, also including Sweeney's wife and another BBC employee. The BBC has been accused of putting students at risk and of compromising the future ability of the university to pursue studies in other countries with strict regimes.
The BBC Trust Editorial Standards Committee investigated the complaints against the programme makers, and found that "the BBC failed to ensure that all the young adults Panorama travelled with were sufficiently aware of any potential risks to enable them to give informed consent. This was a serious failing, and the BBC is right to apologise to the complainants." They also found that Sweeney's wife, who was the trip organiser and tour leader, had a conflict of interest which was compounded when she became employed by the BBC for the programme.[22][23]
Subsequently however, a public statement signed by six of the 10 LSE student participants on the trip said that "We feel that we have now been put in more risk than was originally the case, as a result of the LSE's decision to go public with their story".[24] They also indicated that they had no objection to the broadcast of the BBC Panorama documentary and that they were satisfied with how the BBC handled the trip. It was also revealed that an agent for the North Korean government had emailed threats to the LSE, which ostensibly motivated the LSE to take action against the BBC publicly.[25] An LSE spokesman denied this.[26][27] The programme was watched by 5.06 million people making it the number 1 show in its time slot and the 2nd most watched show of the night.[28]
The programme formed the basis of a book, North Korea Undercover, published in November 2013.[29]
Fake Sheikh: Exposed
Sweeney was the presenter of a controversial Panorama about the ex News of the World undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood called "Fake Sheikh: Exposed". The Attorney General, Jeremy Wright wrote to the BBC asking them not to show it in case it prejudiced any future trial, and Mahmood unsuccessfully tried to get an injunction to stop Panorama broadcasting recent video of him with no disguise. The broadcast was twice delayed and was finally transmitted on 12 November 2014. Following the programme the Crown Prosecution Service announced that they would reinvestigate 25 cases where people were convicted on Mahmood’s evidence.[30]
Awards
Sweeney has won several awards throughout his career, including:[31]
- 1998: What the Papers Say Journalist of the Year prize for reports on human rights abuses in Algeria.
- 2000: an Emmy Award and a Royal Television Society prize for programs about the Massacre at Krusha e Madhe, Kosovo.
- 2001: the Amnesty International prize for "Victims of the Torture Train," about human rights abuses in Chechnya.
- 2003: a Sony Gold award (2003) for Best Radio News programme.
- 2004: a Royal Television Society prize (2004) for "Angela's Hope," a BBC One documentary about a woman wrongly convicted of murdering her three babies.
- 2005: The Paul Foot Award.
Books
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
References
- ↑ Famous Alumni – BBC and Observer investigative journalist John Sweeney Publisher: Barton Peveril Sixth Form College. Retrieved: 27 April 2013.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Telegraph owners use French courts in libel case; Barclays head for France to sue the Times
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Sweeney wins Paul Foot Award for ‘relentless pursuit of justice’
- ↑ Scientology: BBC reporter losing it! (Scientologist Video of events) on YouTube
- ↑ (Travolta and DVD Distribution by Scientology) The Daily Mail 14 May 2007
- ↑ BBC Panorama Exposed site showing the full documentary
- ↑ Daily Telegraph of 15 May 2007, "BBC reporter blows his top at Scientologist", retrieved 6 June 2007
- ↑ John Sweeney's apology on YouTube
- ↑ Row over Scientology video, John Sweeney, BBC News, 12 May 2007
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ BBC Report on John Sweeney (BBC Video of events) - BBC News clip 14 May 2007
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Recording of Interview with Sweeney on BBC Radio 4 about the film Valkyrie
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/17/north-korea-students-criticise-lse
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/news/a473514/broadchurch-climbs-to-over-7-million-viewers-on-itv.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Award list Available: http://www.projectklebnikov.org/members/sweeney.html Accessed: 17 May 2007
External links
![]() |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: John Sweeney (journalist) |
- Profile on the Panorama Website
- Profile on the Panorama Website, 9 January 2007
- BBC Editors Blog: Investigating Scientology
- Filmography at the British Film Institute
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- BBC employee criticised after PRs hand deliver Mormon documentary complaint 27 March 2012 regarding Sweeney an his documentary The Mormon Candidate on Mormonism, the LDS Church, and Mitt Romney
- EngvarB from April 2015
- Use dmy dates from April 2015
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from May 2007
- Pages with broken file links
- 1958 births
- Living people
- BBC newsreaders and journalists
- British investigative journalists
- British reporters and correspondents
- Critics of Scientology
- The Observer photojournalists
- British war correspondents