Entertainment
Panorama reporter awarded £90,000 after libel battle with blog editor-Stella Akinwumi-Entertainment – Metro
Ware explained that he was ‘pleased to be fully vindicated by the court.’
Panorama reporter John Ware sued Paddy French following a 2019 episode titled Is Labour antisemitic?(Picture: John Ware)
Panorama journalist John Ware has been awarded £90,000 in damages following a libel trial with a blog editor who claimed an investigation into allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party was ‘rogue journalism.’
Investigative reporter Ware sued retired TV producer Paddy French over claims that a BBC 2019 episode – titled Is Labour Anti-Semitic? – ‘bent the truth to breaking point.’
The 74-year-old presenter initially took legal action against editor French for £50,000 over a pamphlet titled ‘Is the BBC anti-Labour?’, which he published via his Press Gang website.
French had claimed Ware’s Panorama programme had been ‘a piece of rogue journalism that presented just one side of the argument and ignored basic facts.’
The article was sent directly to more than 100 senior managers and journalists at the BBC, as well as employees of other media organisations, and was also handed out to BBC staff outside Broadcasting House in December 2019.
A High Court judge ruled on Wednesday that French ‘intentionally calculated to harm’ Ware in making accusations of ‘the utmost seriousness’ to the detriment of the journalist’s reputation.
Ware explained that he was pleased to be ‘fully vindicated’. (Picture: PA)
Ware told the court it was falsely alleged that he had ‘deliberately disseminated false information’ (Picture: BBC)
Mr Justice Julian Knowles also said French ‘maliciously’ tried to create ‘a myth, a false narrative’ over the progress of the libel case, adding the blog editor had shown an attitude of ‘contempt’ to proceedings.
Ware told the court it was falsely alleged that he had ‘deliberately disseminated false information’ and had been ‘unscrupulous and dishonest’ as this was the ‘antithesis of everything he has stood for in his 50-odd years as a journalist.’
In his ruling, Mr Justice Julian Knowles said the journalist was ‘proud’ of his and colleagues’ work on a ‘well-timed’ production on ‘a matter of considerable public interest.’
The judge said it appeared French ‘never had the necessary evidence to prove that the allegations were true’ and had ‘seriously exacerbated the damage’ to Ware by seeking to ensure any judgment may be seen as ‘unwarranted or unfair’.
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‘I have no hesitation in concluding that the article did cause, or was likely to cause, (Ware) serious harm,’ the judge concluded.
In a statement after Wednesday’s ruling, Ware explained that he was ‘pleased to be fully vindicated by the court.’
He added that he hoped the case sent a signal that ‘trenchant criticism is fine; attributing malign motives to arguments with which you passionately disagree isn’t.’
Elsewhere, French said in a separate statement that he was ‘naturally disappointed’ and claimed the case ‘raises serious questions about press freedom in Britain’.
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