What if the BBC went with Glen Jenvey?
Freelance terror investigator Glen Jenvey has an impressive CV; he’s spied for ‘London authorities’ and the US, worked with the intelligence services of several other countries and, most James Bond, infiltrated the Tamil Tigers. Or so he claims.
Unlike other spies, who tend to keep a low profile, Glen Jenvey appears particularly keen to supply stories to newspapers and has been very open with blogger Tim Ireland, who alleges that Jenvey is a fantasist.
Tim has published evidence that Glen Jenvey is the source for a number of news stories around the terror threat. Tim’s most serious accusation concerns a front-page splash in the Sun: ‘Terror Target Sugar’. This story claimed that Alan Sugar and other Jewish celebrities were being targeting by Islamic extremists. Tim claims to be able to show that the evidence for the claim was fabricated by Glen Jenvey. The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is investigating and the Sun has removed the story from its website. Sugar has also begun legal action against the Sun.
If Tim’s right, Jenvey has fooled a great many national newspapers – The Times, The People, the Daily Star, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express and the Daily Mail – so it’s incredible that the Glen Jenvey affair has not had a higher profile.
Glen Jenvey’s CV may be impossible to verify, but that’s a reason for newspapers to exercise extreme caution before running any stories he might supply them not an excuse for making a mistake. Online anonymity is largely a myth and Tim’s evidence against Jenvey was easily obtained; the newspapers could and should have checked him out in the same way, but appear not to have bothered. If true, that’s a catastrophic failure.
We know the PCC is investigating and at least one writ has flown, but if the BBC were centre of similar accusations, those same newspapers would be baying for blood. It’s hard to imagine the BBC Trust being given as long to mull over the issues as the PCC has had. And if the BBC had been fooled, heads would rightly roll.
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