Nicholas Jones

Leak and be damned

Governments always fail to stop a determined leaker says Nicholas Jones. Technically they are always a step behind. Morally, they fail to realise that low-grade employees have consciences and become troubled by contradictions and deceptions in material they process.

A piranha fish bites back

During the miners’ strike in 1984, the union’s leader, Arthur Scargill, prided himself on his ability to thwart the news media by refusing interviews and denying reporters information. But he once recruited Nicholas Jones, then the BBC’s industrial correspondent, to act as his driver on a long journey. To mark the strike’s 25th anniversary, he finally reveals the details of his conversation with the man who regarded all journalists as piranha fish swimming in the Fleet Street fish tank.

Tension at Ten

a gentle reminder of the need for fairness and balance by broadcasting organisations in the run up to a general election. But, as the telephone calls have multiplied, progressing upwards from political reporters to programme editors, and then to news directors, so the reality has emerged: often a panic-stricken press officer under pressure from higher up in the party hierarchy, desperate to make an impact. No longer are the parties quibbling about the accuracy or merit of a particular phrase or remark. They are trying their hand at blatant news