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Exaro
''Exaro'' or ''Exaro News'' was a British website based in London between 2011 and 2016. It purportedly undertook political investigative journalism, but is now primarily known (together with its editor Mark Watts) for its direct involvement in the false allegations of sexual abuse put forward by "Nick" ( Carl Beech) in Operation Midland. Introduction Launched in October 2011, ''Exaro'', under its motto "Holding Power to Account", claimed to specialise in "carrying out in-depth investigations". Its website claimed it 'set out to produce "evidence-based, open-access journalism – not spin, not churnalism, not hacking – just journalism about what should be transparent but isn't"'. ''Exaro'' was reportedly set up by City entrepreneur Jerome Booth. In articles by journalist Mark Conrad, ''Exaro'' became the first publication to report claims made by Carl Beech (under the pseudonym "Nick") that a paedophile ring composed of powerful individuals had abused children at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Watts (journalist)
Mark Watts is the former editor-in-chief of the defunct investigative news website Exaro. Watts left Exaro in 2016 and it closed later that year after having published reports on sexual abuse and murder allegations from Carl Beech. These allegations spurred Operation Midland and were ultimately deemed false. Career Watts started his career at the '' Hull Daily Mail'' in 1988. He later joined the '' Sunday Express'', before making a move into television to work on ''The Big Story'' for ITV in 1994. He went on to make documentaries for Yorkshire Television and World in Action before returning to print media in 1997. From 1997–2001 he was head of investigations for ''Sunday Business''. In 2001, Watts founded the FOIA Centre, which specialises in research using 'open-access' laws. Watts later hosted the live daily news show "Between the Headlines" on Press TV, in which he invited politicians, senior journalists and commentators to join him in reviewing the day's newspapers. He is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hencke
David Hencke ( ) is a British investigative journalist and writer, named "Political Journalist of the Year" at the 2012 British Press Awards. Career Hencke began as a student journalist in 1965 at Warwick University as editor of its first university newspaper, Giblet, while studying history and politics. In 1968 he worked for the ''Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph'', then in 1971 joined the '' Western Mail'' in Cardiff and in 1973 the ''Times Higher Education Supplement''. Hencke joined ''The Guardian'' in 1976, becoming the newspaper's Westminster Correspondent in 1986. He has won numerous awards for his political coverage. In 1994 he was named ''What the Papers Say'' Journalist of the Year for his investigation that uncovered the "Cash-for-questions affair". His exposé led to the bankruptcy of Ian Greer Associates, one of the country’s biggest lobbying companies, and the resignations of two junior ministers, Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith. In 1998, Hencke won "Scoop of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elm Guest House Child Abuse Scandal
The Elm Guest House was a hotel in Rocks Lane, near Barnes Common in southwest London. In a list produced by convicted fraudster Chris Fay, several prominent British men were alleged to have engaged in sexual abuse and child grooming at the Guest House in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Labour MP Tom Watson, having heard testimony from Carl Beech, suggested in an October 2012 statement to the House of Commons that a paedophile network which had existed at this time may have brought children to parties at the private residence. During 2014 and 2015, allegations against several leading politicians of the period, mostly now deceased, were made public in the British press. Many of these claims were examined and discredited in an October 2015 episode of the BBC current affairs television programme, ''Panorama''. The role of the guest house became the subject of a Metropolitan Police Service investigation known as Operation Fairbank in late 2012. The purpose of this "scoping exercise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Beech (criminal)
Operation Midland was a criminal investigation which the London Metropolitan Police carried out between November 2014 and March 2016 in response to false allegations of historic child abuse made by Carl Beech. The operation focused on investigation of several high-profile British citizens—politicians, military officers and heads of security—over claims of historic child sexual abuse and murder. The 18-month operation failed to find sufficient evidence to support the claims, and an inquiry into the police investigation afterwards concluded that the people involved had been falsely accused, leaving them dealing with considerable damage to their lives and reputations. A report of the inquiry's findings found that detectives and officers within the operation's taskforce had committed several errors during the course of their work, and made calls for more effective checks on allegations and accountability by police. Following the reporting of the inquiry's findings, the Metropo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Midland
Operation Midland was a criminal investigation which the London Metropolitan Police carried out between November 2014 and March 2016 in response to false allegations of historic child abuse made by Carl Beech. The operation focused on investigation of several high-profile British citizens—politicians, military officers and heads of security—over claims of historic child sexual abuse and murder. The 18-month operation failed to find sufficient evidence to support the claims, and an inquiry into the police investigation afterwards concluded that the people involved had been falsely accused, leaving them dealing with considerable damage to their lives and reputations. A report of the inquiry's findings found that detectives and officers within the operation's taskforce had committed several errors during the course of their work, and made calls for more effective checks on allegations and accountability by police. Following the reporting of the inquiry's findings, the Metropo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the UK ('' The Sun'' and ''The Times)'', in Australia (''The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun'', and ''The Australian)'', in the US (''The Wall Street Journal'' and the ''New York Post''), book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News (through the Fox Corporation). He was also the owner of Sky (until 2018), 21st Century Fox ( until 2019), and the now-defunct '' News of the World''. With a net worth of billion , Murdoch is the 31st richest person in the United States and the 71st richest in the world. After his father's death in 1952, Murdoch took over the running of '' The News'', a small Adelaide newspaper owned by his father. In the 1950s and 1960s, Murdoch acquired a number of new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hemming (politician)
John Alexander Melvin Hemming (born 16 March 1960) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and businessman who served as the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley from 2005 until 2015. Hemming was an elected councillor for the South Yardley Ward and Group Chair of the Liberal Democrats on Birmingham City Council until 1 May 2008 and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley at the 2005 general election. He was the first Liberal Democrat or Liberal to represent a Birmingham constituency since Wallace Lawler had briefly held Birmingham Ladywood after a 1969 by-election. In 2004, Hemming became deputy leader of Birmingham City Council in a deal whereby the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition to jointly administer the council. He stood down from this position upon being elected to the House of Commons in 2005. In 2007, Hemming became the Liberal Democrat Spokesman for the West Midlands and led the West Midlands Liberal Democrat tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lantern Project
The Lantern Project is a UK registered charity which gave support to child sexual abuse victims, victims of bullying and victims of racial abuse. The Charity was founded by Graham Wilmer MBE, an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse, in 2000 under the name 'Victims No Longer' but in 2003 it changed its name to the Lantern Project after gaining the support of another survivor David Williams. Operation 2000-2015 Between 2000 and 2015 the charity developed its own therapeutic model which it rolled out in Wirral, Merseyside and the surrounding regions and offered care, information, and support to victims of child abuse in these areas, during this period it was funded by the NHS and third sector organisations in Wirral. Post 2015 Operation In 2015 their funding was withdrawn by the NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
The Liberal Democrats (commonly referred to as the Lib Dems) are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast. They have 14 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 83 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has over 2,500 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated, with all party members eligible to vote, under a one member, one vote system. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007, and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021. In 1981, an electoral alliance was established b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal definition of defamation and related acts as well as the ways they are dealt with can vary greatly between countries and jurisdictions (what exactly they must consist of, whether they constitute crimes or not, to what extent proving the alleged facts is a valid defence). Defamation laws can encompass a variety of acts: * Insult against a legal person in general * Defamation against a legal person in general * Acts against public officials * Acts against state institutions (e.g., government, ministries, government agencies, armed forces) * Acts against state symbols * Acts against the state itself * Acts against religions (e.g., blasphemy, discrimination) * Acts against the judiciary or legislature (e.g., contempt of court, censure) Histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Investigative Journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog reporting" or "accountability reporting." Most investigative journalism has traditionally been conducted by newspapers, wire services, and freelance journalists. With the decline in income through advertising, many traditional news services have struggled to fund investigative journalism, due to it being very time-consuming and expensive. Journalistic investigations are increasingly carried out by news organizations working together, even internationally (as in the case of the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers), or by organizations such as ProPublica, which have not operated previously as news publishers and which rely on the support of the public and benefact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authorities within Staffordshire. History A combined force covering Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, called Staffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary, was established on 1 January 1968, as a merger of the Staffordshire County Police and Stoke-on-Trent City Police. This force lost areas to the new West Midlands Police in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 and adopted a shorter name. Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on 6 February 2006, it would have merged with Warwickshire Constabulary, West Mercia Constabulary and West Midlands Police to form a single strategic force for the West Midlands region. However these plans have not been taken forward largely due to public opposition. For 2005/06 Staffordshire police toppe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
