Ɖ Obzrvr vy on Cáṛl Cadwoḷdr n a vicṭri fr public-inṭrest jrṇlizm
(Transcription of an editorial published in the Observer on Sunday 19 June 2022)
Ɖ jrṇlist’s s’xesfl dfns z a tsṭmnt t hr curij n a wornñ t ɖ vri wlʈi ɖt ɖe c’nt rlî on ɖ corts t iscep criṭsizm
Súnde, 19 Jūn 2022
Ɖ rzolv dspleid bî Cáṛl Cadwoḷdr in hr s’xesfl dfns agnst a lîbl ax́n bròt bî Aṛn Bancs cōlz t mînd Hemñwe’z deḟniśn v curij az “gres undr preśr”. Fr yirz, ɖs aword-winñ jrṇlist hd bn invstgetñ ɖ rǒl v sośl mīdia in ǎr dmocṛsi n ɖ rǒl ɖt Fes-bc in ptiklr hd pleid in ɖ Brexit reḟrendm. Sins Bancs wz a līdñ figr in – n a sbstanśl donr t – ɖ līvcampen, ś hd inevitbli bcm inṭrestd in hiz fînansz, n in a Ted Tōc in Epril 2019 rfŕd brīfli t him in 24 wrdz n lêtr sd smʈñ similr in a twīt.
Ɖ contxt fr ɖ rmarc wz ɖt ɖ Tîmz, ɖ Obzrvr n uɖr nyz ǎtlets hd bn rportñ hǎ Mr Bancs hd, az wn loyr pt it, “msléd evrwn abt ɖ numbr, n nećr, v hiz covrt mītñz wɖ Ruśn ofiślz”.
A juj hld ɖt Cadwoḷdr’z wrdz cnveid a mīnñ ɖt ś sd ś hd nt intndd n indd dd’nt b’liv t b tru. Ś dropt hr dfns v truʈ n rlaid on wn v public inṭrest. Bancs cd hv sùd ɖ publiśr v ɖ Ted Tōc fr deḟmeśn, bt it wz Cadwoḷdr prsṇli ɖt h ćouz t su.
Ɖ sgnificns v ɖs wl nt b lost on enwn wɖ xpirịns v lîbl ax́nz in Britiś corts. Ɖ sveṛti v ɖs cuntri’s deḟmeśnlwz n ɖ cost v fîtñ a ces mc ɖ hî cort a csīno in ẃć tù ofn onli ɖ vri wlʈi cn aford t ple. Ɖ ptnśl costs v dfndñ a ces cn run intu miłnz v pǎndz n cn b inuf t pswed mni publiśrz, let alon indivijl jrṇlists, t bac dǎn n setl wɖt gwñ t cort. Ẃn Caʈrin Bltn, oʈr v Pūtin’z Ppl, n HarprColinz, hr publiśr, wr sùd fr lîbl in 2021 bî sevṛl oḷgarcs, includñ Roman Abramović n a Ruśn ôlcumṗni, ś tld MPz ɖt hr ces hd cost ɖ publiśr £1.5m in līgl fiz t dfnd n cd hv cost £5m f ɖ ces hd gn t trîl. (In ɖ end, ɖ cesz wr setld or wɖdrwn.)
Ɖz ćilñ riaḷtiz, ẃn cmbînd wɖ ɖ cmplex̣ti v dfndñ a ces undr YC lîbļwz, xplen ẃ Britiś jrṇlists r rluctnt t publiś inḟmeśn abt wlʈi or pǎrfl indivijlz. It tecs curij t tec riscs – az Cadwoḷdr dd – ɖt cd rzult in prsnl bancrupsi. Az ś hrslf sz, ɖ prsnl, fizicl, sîc̣lojicl n pṛfeśnl tol fr hr v fîtñ ɖ ces hz bn pṛfǎnd. Ɖt z ẃ Roḅt Maxwél, a c’rupt n l’tijs mīdịtîcūn, cd iscep criticl mīdia xaṃneśn untl h drǎnd aftr lūtñ ɖ pnśnfund v hiz pubḷśñ empîr. Untl rīsntli, mni Lundn-best Ruśn oḷgarcs yzd ɖ sem straṭji t intiṃdet jrṇlists n oʈrz.
Ɖ most poẓtiv ǎtcm v ɖ Bancs ces z ɖ īvluśn v jdiśl ʈncñ on ẃt consttyts a public-inṭrest dfns. Ɖ juj dsîdd ɖt, in lît v Cadwoḷdr’z formiḍbl invstgtiv psistns, ol ɖ ʈñz ś hd unrʈt abt Bancs, hiz fînansz n hiz mītñz wɖ Ruśn ofiślz, it wz rīzṇbl t b’liv ɖt it wz in ɖ public inṭrest t hv sd ẃt ś dd. Ɖs jujmnt z a trîumfnt vindceśn v a formiḍbl jrṇlist hu indyrd unconśṇbl prsnl stres n msoɉnistic abys t gt hr storiz ǎt. N it līvz ɖ rest v s in hr dét.
