LSE anger at BBC over N Korea 'student' reporter

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

The London School of Economics has demanded the BBC withdraw Monday's Panorama programme about North Korea.

It said Panorama reporter John Sweeney posed as one of its PhD students on a university society trip in order to film undercover in the country.

The BBC said the students were told a journalist was among the group and warned of the risks.

But LSE said students were "not given enough information to enable informed consent" and were "endangered".

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22140716

[SwissTony]

1. How the hell did the LSE allow this to happen?

The trip was seemingly organised by one of the university societies. Surely they don't open such trips up to outsiders.

Not that I excuse the BBC. What they did was stupid and dangerous.

[John2]

2. This is disingenuous,

First of all the reporter was not a student and apparently he took members of his family on the trip. It is apparent that he lied himself in order to get into North korea or he never would have been allowed oh the trip or gotten into North Korea. It compromises his whole documentary because apparently he had a bias agenda. He was allowed on an eight day trip, of what he portrays as life in North Korea. He is reportedly describing his product as evidence of a State compared to Nazi Germany. Whatever product he presents should be taken with the consideration of the restrictions North Korea placed on their movements.

The School has a potential problem now. It jeopardizes their entire educational program of getting into certain countries and violates agreements they had for educational purposes with certain countries. If it does cause and damages, I can see a reason for the School to sue the BBC and this journalist for damages. If they see this as damaging to their reputation, they have the right to ask the BBC to not show this journalist product.

[davidpdx]

3. Definately

I think the students shouldn't have even been asked give the risks. One could argue that the London School of Economics has suffered damage in terms of the reputation of the program could and sue the BBC for this.

While I am fully supportive of uncovering what is going on in North Korea, this was a boneheaded move. There need to be an investigation as to who knew about Sweeney's trip if he was indeed doing it on behalf of the BBC. If he was doing this with the full knowledge of his bosses heads should roll. If he wasn't, he needs to be fired.

[Tunkamerica]

7. So, because he "lied" his video is tainted?

How would we ever get undercover video of anything? Or any type of reporting? Your whole argument is convoluted and not very well put (what is a bias agenda? it does cause and damages?);

and about your idea of a lawsuit: I won't pretend to know how the case law has progressed in the UK, but if it's anything like here I'd say bring them on. It's not like they'd have a leg to stand on. Now, as far as firing whoever didn't do their job... that is a legitimate and reasonable response.

He was doing his job, The BBC hired him. Why would they not air the video that their employee got by doing his job?

[davidpdx]

8. First, I think you are confusing my post with the one you replied to

I agreed about suing the BBC and an investigation as to who knew what was going on.

The LSE didn't grant Sweeney permission to go on a trip that was organized by them. LSE is the one who gained permission for the students to enter North Korea. He essentially decided to attach himself to the group posing as a professor to get his story.

There is where you have the unethical behavior in three ways: 1) He joined a group of students under false pretenses to get access as a journalist; 2) He put the lives of the students at risk; and 3) He damaged the reputation of LSE to gain access to other countries including North Korea in the future. The trip wasn't a vacation for the students, they were there to learn and observe what was going on in a closed economy. If Sweeney had been caught, the entire group would have been held including his family members and the students.

The BBC generally has an excellent reputation, so I doubt they "hired him" to lie and act unethically. Why would the BBC want to do something that would hurt their own reputation?

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. It's not as simple as that: Sweeney's wife organised the trip

The Independent understands that the trip was in fact the brainchild of both John Sweeney and his wife Tomiko, who took part in the 2012 trip to North Korea which was organised by the Grimshaw Club.

Mrs Sweeney, who suggested and wrote a piece for The Independent after she returned, had made contacts to set up a second trip and found a group of LSE students who were willing to come along.

The BBC insists that the students – who ranged in age from 18 to 28 – were informed twice while in London that a BBC journalist would be present on the trip.

But they admitted that it was only once they were in Beijing that they were made aware the journalist was John Sweeney and that a camera crew would accompany them.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/panorama-was-worth-risking-lives-for-says-bbc-chief-programme-by-john-sweeney-based-on-secret-footage-taken-on-university-field-trip-to-north-korea-8572219.html

According to the LSE, Mr Sweeney's wife Tomiko organised the student trip through the university's oldest student society, the Grimshaw Club - one of the few LSE societies to organise international student study trips.

The LSE said the BBC used the 10-person group as a cover for a trip that could have had dire consequences - claiming that if Mr Sweeney had been caught they party could have found themselves in solitary confinement in a North Korean prison.

Alex Peters-Day, the general secretary of the Grimshaw Club, said: "An LSE alum told us about the trip and we advertised as it an opportunity to our mailing list and our Facebook page that may be of interest to our members; but we at no point had any organisational involvement with the trip.

"In other words, there was no institutional involvement on our part whatsoever and the trip participants were aware of that."

http://www.channel4.com/news/bbc-row-over-student-reporter-in-north-korea

In the original email about the trip to North Korea, sent from the Grimshaw Society, seen by HuffPost UK, no mention is made of a journalist accompanying the trip.

It does however state that the trip is organised by Tomiko Newson, John Sweeney's wife, who lectures at the LSE and has written articles previously about North Korea, and mention may well have been made about journalistic involvement at a later date.

It says: "As you are all aware, North Korea is a very unique destination and we are extremely pleased that Tomiko Newson, who organised the trip last year, together with another former Grimshaw member XXXXX, are willing to organise this trip!

"Due to the administration and bureacratic policies, the time frame is very limited so any applications have to be sumbitted no later than Friday 1st Feb."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/14/lse_n_3078816.html

[Bluenorthwest]

4. At the link, LSE says he posed as a professor, not as a student.

This is repeated several times. Just for the sake of accuracy in a very odd story indeed.

[alp227]

5. BBC refuses to drop North Korea Panorama documentary

The BBC has insisted it will broadcast a controversial Panorama documentary about North Korea, despite protests from the London School of Economics (LSE) that journalist John Sweeney put its staff working abroad at risk by posing as a student from the institution to gain access to the communist state.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/14/bbc-north-korea-panorama-film

[freshwest]

6. Something about this doesn't add up. (dial-up warning, pic of Sweeney)

Isn't this John Sweeney well-known?

I'm unsure anyone truly believed he was 'just' another student.

Help me out here.