[Osem]

Originally Posted by Chris

Actually there really aren't that many occasions - not since they ran a 'single source' item on Today reporting allegations that the Government had 'sexed up' claims that Saddam Hussein could deploy WMDs in 45 minutes. That cock-up resulted in a man's suicide, as you might remember. Editorial standards at the Beeb are now extremely, some might say hopelessly, strict in this regard.

Single source reporting is for extreme circumstances only, and in the context of this story, the Sunday Times is the single source. Had that story turned out to be a libel, the fact that they were simply reporting what another newspaper had already said would be no defence. The Sunday Times has access to whatever interviews it conducted in order to prove its case, were it accused of defamation, but the Beeb would have nothing.

What they have done is wait until they have their own quotable, verifiable source before reporting, and the Clerk of the Lords has given them that by announcing an inquiry. In fact the good lady baroness has also given them something quotable, by announcing that she will co-operate.

Isn't that the reason the BBC normally uses the term 'allegedly' so liberally in its reporting?