Shameless BBC puts forward its Cliff raid footage for TV award
THE BBC has submitted its controversial live coverage of the police raid on Sir Cliff Richard’s home for a top television journalism award.
Despite the continuing fallout from the story, the Corporation has entered its footage for Scoop of the Year at the Royal Television Society’s prestigious Television Journalism Awards next month.
A source was quoted as saying: ‘It was a good story and it was important to stand by our journalism. Notwithstanding the controversy, when we came to assess the best scoops of the year this was definitely up there.’
The BBC has faced the threat of legal action from the singer since it screened live footage, shot from a helicopter, of the raid at his £3.5million Berkshire residence last August – and stationed reporters at the house’s gates even before police arrived.
Sir Cliff, 74, vigorously denies an
‘Enormous damage’
allegation of sexual abuse of a boy under 16 at a Christian rally in 1985. No charges have been brought.
His lawyer Gideon Benaim said the BBC report led to ‘ immeasurable harm to our client and was both premature and disproportionate’.
Tony Hall, the BBC’s Director-General, faced a grilling by MPs after it emerged that its journalists had been tipped off about the raid by South Yorkshire Police.
A report into the affair, published in October by the Home Affairs Select Committee, said South Yorkshire Police had been ‘utterly inept’ but added that the Corporation was ‘well within its rights’ to run the story.
As a result of being tipped off, TV reporters were able to film live aerial shots of the raid on Sir Cliff’s home on August 14.
A camera in a helicopter zoomed in on officers through windows as they searched the star’s belongings, while journalists reported live from his gates.
After the broadcast, the BBC received hundreds of complaints from viewers, with many saying that the coverage made the singer look guilty.
At the time of the select committee’s report in October, Lord Hall said that if a news editor or other senior figure had been informed of the sensitivity of the investigation, ‘we would not have run the story’.
The report claimed that a BBC reporter, Dan Johnson, threatened to break the story prematurely unless he was granted ‘inside access’ to the police raid. Keith Vaz MP, the committee’s chairman, commented: ‘South Yorkshire Police’s handling of this situation was utterly inept.
‘No British citizen should have to watch their home being raided by the police live on television. Sir Cliff Richard has suffered enormous and irreparable damage to his reputation and he is owed an apology.’
The singer was interviewed under caution by police ten days after the raid. He has described the allegation as ‘completely false’ and has been supported by a host of celebrities during his ordeal.
Friend Cilla Black said last summer she was ‘absolutely positive’ he was innocent, adding in a strongly-worded statement: ‘ I, like everyone else, was shocked to hear of these allegations and I am absolutely positive that they are without foundation.’
The pair have been close friends since they recorded a song together in 1969 and are regularly spotted at Wimbledon.
The Royal Television Awards will take place on February 18. Last night a BBC spokesman refused to comment.