Saturday, July 11, 2009

CAMPBELL LIVE STILL HAUNTED BY MEDAL THIEF INTERVIEW

I see in today's Herald on Sunday there is a not-quite-apology on Paul Holmes' column page, relating to a suggestion he made in last week's column that perhaps the controversial John Campbell interview with the medal thief never actually took place.

Holmes was speculating that a lawyer or some other middle man may have interviewed the thief on behalf of Campbell Live and then Campbell just recreated the questions with the hooded man, who we now all know was an actor. I thought at the time Holmes made the suggestion that it was unlikely, but the fact that the programme didn't tell viewers on the night the story screened that they had only secured an audio interview with the thief and so the television interview scenario was being re-created with an actor, left them wide open to such speculation.

It was a major cock-up on TV3's part, and to be fair they know that and have apologised for it. So fair enough that they wanted to set the record straight with the Herald on Sunday that Campbell's interview with the medal thief did indeed take place.

This one has been a bit of a sorry saga for TV3 and Campbell Live, and it continues to drag on. The Campbell Live team are now in the awkward position where they will have to fight a legal fight not to give up the name of the thief, as journalists must always protect their sources. This is an important journalistic principle, and one that is worth fighting for. It's just a shame that some hasty decision making back when this story screened means this important point of principle is being fought over a medal thief loathed by the nation rather than a brave whistle-blower or some other more admirable human being.

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