SPECTACULARLY WRONG
THE
Spectator
was forced to publish an embarrassing apology last week.
In September it had wrongly accused journalist Harry Shukman and his employer, campaign group Hope Not Hate, of creating a fake passport to infiltrate far right groups. In fact, Shukman had changed his name by deed poll, making the passport entirely legal and the Spectator’s story completely wrong. As the magazine put it: “We fell short of the standards we set for ourselves.”
However, instead of simply saying sorry and moving on, Spectator assistant content editor John Power, who wrote the original piece, was allowed by his bosses to bury the apology in a 1,300word article which further attacked Hope Not Hate. Power claimed that the fact Shukman had really changed his name was a new scandal that deserved further investigation, saying Hope Not Hate is “involved in ethically contentious journalistic practices”.