When do security journalists stop being journalists?


I‘d love to see the difference between a US Defence Dept Video News Release and the piece Frank Gardner presented tonight on the BBC 10. Go view it.

The pay-off to his online copy notes:

…until terrorists actually detonate a dirty bomb, the funding for coping for one [sic] is thin on the ground.

Some equipment is now being distributed, in both the US and Britain, but privately scientists question whether it will really be enough to cope with a full-scale radiological disaster.

Stop me and buy one!

Gardner’s no dupe. Let’s hope he realises the damage that feeble fare like this does to his credibility as a reporter.


2 responses to “When do security journalists stop being journalists?”

  1. Bit harsh on Frank, who after all had a number of exclusive lines in his report, ie that ambulance crews were now carrying dosimeters. I’ve not heard or seen that anywhere else.

  2. I just re-read the online piece and failed to pick up any traces of skepticism. What if this had been a piece about a new vaccine from a big pharma company…