The Telegraph won't really want sued for defamation and loss of earnings, so anything they report/show is very likely to be fact. That said if it isn't they can and will be sued by the affected parties. The defence against defamation is 'truth'. http://www.howtolaw.co/defend-a-defamation-action-392175
I don't know. I don't really have a problem with undercover journalists or sting operations. I don't think the press are doing their job if they aren't trying to ferret out corruption. I do kinda have a problem with undercover journalism in this instance. Because to me the injustice here is rather mild. It's football, not a multibillion pound government contract or human rights being violated. And I don't like the way The Telegraph is reporting this for maximum profit and drama rather than simply revealing the facts and alerting the authorities. They appear to me more eager to make a buck than to right an injustice and that's not exactly ethical journalism either.
Youd think so wouldn't you? But we've seen on countless occassions papers and other media outlets publishing trash, based on very little evidence, about individuals and get away with it. Whats important is that the truth is revealed and only the guilty parties suffer.
Papers aren't a charity....they investigate things because it is sensational news and sell papers. Dragging it out isn't risking lives, so I'm not going to be outraged about it.
Spot on on the second paragraph. Anyone who thinks the Telegraph are doing this an act of getting the truth out or goodwill etc. is in dreamlamd quite frankly. They haven't even passed everything over to the FA yet, why not?
They are trying to make a buck. But trying to make a buck as often been one of the underpinnings of the best investigative journalism throughout the past century. I don't particularly care if they draw it out for a couple days to achieve maximum effect so long as they aren't hiding anything that changes the story dramatically. Edit: heck, I hope they do make a buck. And I hope that other papers look at it and say "wow, there's money in these here acts of journalism. Mayhap we ought to try some of that rather than spending all our budget on paparazzi snaps of B-list celebrities".
It seems that in a lot of these cases targets are invited to attend a meeting to discuss something completely innocent and then they make throw away comments during discussions they thought would be about something else. The telegraph then sell the story as if this whole dodgy meeting was set up to discuss bribery etc. My issue is that the press exaggerate and dramatize stories to make more money rather than simply presenting the information as it is. So although they do expose some details, we get sold a story rather than told the truth as to what happened.
But because of the way they are handling it, I don't see their hands as any cleaner than those they are naming. Eric Black isn't risking anyone's lives, and he's just trying to make a buck himself. But fair enough, I'm not outraged by The Telegraph either. I would say I am equally mildly disdainful of the actions of all sides.
When it comes to the power of the press to achieve social justice and whatnot, I view this expose on the underhanded doing of agents and club officials to be of equal value to paparazzi snaps of B-list celebrities. So far, at least. If they nail Redknapp for having millions in offshore accounts and having lied to the tax authorities about it, that's something worth investigating and writing about.
That reads like my hit list. Seriously though, if we want to be seen as whiter than white, Eric is off.
I do enjoy a juicy scandal. How bloody pathetic are all these millionaires though?! As soon as I heard the words "Far East consortium" I'd run a mile.
If any Far East consortium were to approach me the likelihood would be that they originated from Sandwich in Kent.
Apparently the meeting with Redknapp only lasted about 30 seconds. They'd barely even had time to take off their jackets, and the waiter was yet to even seat them, before he started rattling off all the various ways to scam money out of football, unprovoked by the journalists.
