Bureau editor speaks out on threats to press freedom
Flickr/Steakpinball
Iain Overton, editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, has used a guest blog on Huffington Post UK and an interview on LBC 97.3 FM to express his concern that press reform could end up severely limiting the scope of investigative journalism.
His comments come as press reform is high on the political agenda in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal. Overton argues that current privacy laws already risk strangling investigations, as the prospect of legal wrangling and sky-high lawyers’ fees can make editors wary of treading on the wrong toes. Any reform must recognise that serious investigative journalism is in the public interest – and it’s what brought the phone-hacking scandal to light in the first place.
Click here to read his article.
But that’s not the Bureau’s only appearance on the Huffington Post’s homepage today: Chris Woods has also blogged on the Bureau’s investigation into CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, which has found that the drones are highly likely to have killed civilians, despite official claims to the contrary.
Click here to read his article.
