Strange to write this as I have very mixed feelings about everything we have been through over the last few years.
I’m pleased these men have been found guilty of harassing me - for the sake of my family and for the sake of journalists all over the UK being able to tell the truth. A Very British Cult is a very sad story which got even sadder after we published.
What I do want to say above all is thank you - because in the worst of situations the very best people always show themselves.
Thank you to my other half Jamie for being the best man I’ve ever known, and for supporting me and looking after our family every single day. Thank you to all our incredible friends and BBC colleagues who have shown us so much love and support through this. To Ed and Ravin for always looking out for us. Thank you to @divyatalwar21 for coming with me to court every single day, and there were a lot of days. Thank you to the Met police officers who have worked to keep us safe and backed us through this process. Thank you our friends in Walthamstow who always came out and helped us protect our family while they were trying to intimidate us in our neighbourhood. Thank you to the people in this amazing community who barely knew us but bravely stood up to the cult. And thank you to our MP @stellacreasy who literally chased them down the street and faced terrible abuse herself because of it.
I hope one day everyone - including the three men found guilty - will be free of this group.
18 months ago, I got a call from Dawn saying her boyfriend was trying to escape a life coaching group...that was actually a cult.
It started the weirdest & most fascinating investigation of my career.
A Very British Cult is out now on @bbciplayer and @bbcsounds 🔥
I have a new investigation out today for BBC Panorama. We investigate PFAS Chemicals - aka Forever Chemicals.
These chemicals have been used for decades to make things non-stick, waterproof and heat-resistant. The vast majority are legal. They’re incredibly stable, which means they hang around in the environment and in our bodies, earning them the name “forever chemicals”.
They are inarguably very useful – but some have been linked to serious harms such as cancer and infertility.
Because they are so widely used they have been found to have contaminated some rivers, soil and food. The UK’s Environment Agency believes around 10,000 sites could be affected nationwide.
Studies show most of us now have PFAS in our blood simply through daily life: what we eat, drink and use in our homes.
As part of the investigation I had my blood tested for these chemicals - and let’s just say the results were not quite what I was expecting - and not good.
The European Commission is currently consulting on a blanket ban of PFAS chemicals - but at the moment the UK government is not doing the same. Many experts believe it should be.
You can watch the full BBC Panorama investigation on @bbciplayer now and on @bbcone Monday 8pm — featuring @stephrmetzger of the @roysocchem , @dr.fede.amati , Dr David Megson of @manmetuni@children_of_the_90s and many others.
Produced by Luke Mendham of @nine_lives_media
#pfas #chemicals #pfoa #environment #pollution
I often get asked what tips I have for people wanting to get into journalism. I think my number one tip is - make sure you can concentrate.
We have all heard how social media and AI are destroying our ability to concentrate. People discuss reading a book as if it’s a miracle. Lecturers in film studies say students can’t actually sit through a film. This will not help you as a journalist - and I’m sure in a lot of other jobs too.
This job involves reading, dissecting and understanding documents that are hundreds of pages long. It involves processing huge data sets. It means interviewing people for hours at a time. If you can’t even watch a TV programme without scrolling you won’t be able to do it.
ChatGPT can summarise 10,000 words in seconds but if you want to be a good journalist I think you usually need to read the 10,000 words. It means you truly understand the subject matter, see the human nuance a machine might miss, find the hidden gem of a detail.
Employers will look for concentration skills - I look for them when I’m hiring - and if they become rare they’ll be even more valuable. So hold onto them. As people dissolve their ability to concentrate I think it’s a smart idea work on yours. (And I’m gonna keep working on mine!)
#concentration #ai #journalism #journalist
Some places I’ve been recording my voice over the last few days.
1. Studio (quite normal)
2. By the BBC bins (bit smelly)
3. On a train (nice views)
4. In hotel bed (but with posh robe so tired but a bit of luxury)
Getting to that stage of podcast recording where I’m fairly bored of the sound of my own voice but I’m very excited to soon share what we have been working on with the world.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
So good to get the WhatsApp group together in real life. And at Lahore. These men have shared so many moments over the years, mostly in the form of a badly typed rant. Loved sharing a curry and comparing new wrinkles. They’re also genius filmmakers (but that’s less important) ❤️
I’m at that stage of an investigation where it’s taken over most of my brain. I go to sleep and wake up debating a script line or a fact check. In the middle I dream about a strange version of the story. I’m currently reading and re-reading huge documents to see if I’ve missed anything. Writing and re-writing scripts over and again. Editing. Checking. Writing. Checking. Grateful for this job, also knackered. And I don’t have any photos to represent the above so here is my mug in a car.
I am at that point in an investigation where I don’t really have time to post this photo. But here I am anyway jumping on Instagram to say hello and also talk about the INCREDIBLE team that I’m working with on my latest podcast. This is one of the most intense parts of the job - writing, re-writing, fact checking, getting the last interviews, talking to lawyers, thinking about the investigation all day and all night. I’m glad I’m doing it with this elite podcast gang though - @kavpuri@jamiejbartlett@ruthmayer - onwards 💪
On air in a few months time.
Thanks to @meghamohanauthor for sharing this pic with me from her #herlands book launch. I’m standing alongside some of the BBC’s most formidable journalists. A line up which has agenda setting investigations, big hitting interviews, revelatory podcasts, docs, on all platforms, and a global footprint. What an honour to know such amazing women - talented and sisterly to boot. 💪
Photo by @omar_mehtab (also supremely talented!)
Mum, what were you like in the 90s? 😂
Don’t let anyone tell you the 90s was that cool, I’m here to evidence that. And this isn’t even the worst pic I have.
I have been thinking about Paul Conroy a lot this week. I think anyone that ever encountered him has. He died at the weekend and I was just talking about him to @hendersonkite - I think you can’t get Paul out of your head because it just feels like such a loss to humanity. In a world of endless bullsh*t Paul was the opposite of that. A man who spoke with honesty and humour about his duty to bear witness. We need far far more Paul Conroys not less.
Every year Jeremy puts on a tiny festival on an island in Essex and one year I had the privilege of interviewing Paul Conroy there. It was a balmy evening and in front of a fire he told the crowd his story. He got the only standing ovation that the festival has ever had, before or since. I have been wishing so much that I could listen to that conversation again and Jeremy just sent me this - an account by excellent writer Sam Leith who was documenting the night.
This gives a lovely flavour of Paul. And his friendship with the legendary Marie Colvin.
“Who - and where - is Boat Man?” - the line that introduced the pair.
Paul slept outside on the grass at the festival that night. Everyone misses him.
RIP.
