IF it cares to learn them, there were many lessons for BBCNI – and indeed the wider BBC – at a panel discussion of its disastrous loss in the Gerry Adams libel case.
The five-person panel debate was held in a packed main auditorium at St Mary's University College on Monday evening as part of Féile and there was unanimity among the speakers – including two Ormeau Avenue veterans – that BBCNI needs to change, and change significantly.
Panel chair was Trevor Birney, a respected journalist and film-maker, who with his colleague Barry McCaffrey recently received significant damages from the PSNI after they were illegally spied upon. In his opening remarks, Trevor stressed the importance of the BBC to public life in Ireland and Britain, but said mistakes need to be acknowledged and acted upon.
PUBLIC INTEREST: The panel addressed a large crowd in the main St Mary's UC auditorium
“I believe in public service broadcasting, in the importance of the BBC and RTE," said Trevor. "But when they make mistakes there must be accountability."
Former BBC journalist and renowned author Chris Moore, whose new book on Kincora has opened a fresh can of worms over the notorious MI5 paedophile sting operation, remembered a BBCNI with an internal culture that was rather different to the face it presents to the public.
“There is a creepy background to the BBC with another hand at work within the broadcaster," he said. “There is a relationship between the state police and the state broadcaster. I know of people who were threatened by MI5 to stop talking to me.”
Belfast Telegraph security correspondent Allison Morris brought her wide and valuable experience of the world of the law and libel to the discussion. She said she was left bemused by the fact that the BBC ploughed ahead with the case for almost ten years when it seemed clear to many that the challenge they faced was huge.
“The BBC lawyers got it wrong," she said simply. "How did it get past the lawyers in the first place?”
Allison added: “There is a real disconnect between some journalists and the outside world, some live in their own bubble.”
Irish News columnist and 25-year BBCNI veteran Mary Kelly said there was a lot of frustration within the Corporation over how management acts.
“The decisions made by high-ups in the BBC sometimes beggar belief," she said.
Robin Livingstone from the Andersonstown News said two issues stood out for him during the trial: The decision to bring up five sources not referenced in the original documentary and accompanying story, and a plea from the BBC lawyers not to give Gerry Adams any money if he won.
“What an insult to the jury that was," he said.
In the subsequent question and answer session, Gerry Adams disputed Robin Livingstone's earlier assertion that his claim to have issued libel proceedings to "put manners on the BBC" was "a joke with a jag".
ADAMANT: Gerry Adams insisted that he was entirely serious when he said he took the case to "put manners on the BBC"
“I want to clarify a point," he said. "When I said I was putting manners on the BBC with this case, it wasn’t a joke with a jag. It was what I was doing. I did indeed take this case to put manners on the BBC.
