Fascinating talks by journalists
As the new term gets underway, Oundle pupils were privileged to hear talks from two fascinating journalists as part of the extra-curricular programme of General Studies and Society speakers.
Henry Winter, Chief Football Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, delivered a talk entitled 'The Ugly Beautiful Game – a football reporter's story', having interviewed Sir Alex Ferguson that morning. Winter commented on the changes affecting journalism brought about by the technological revolution. He contrasted the immediacy of tweets with the more reflective pieces of newspaper articles. He fielded an enormous number of questions ranging from the salaries of footballers, corruption, super injunctions, sportsmanship to the power of leading clubs.
Picture: Martyn Gregory and students from Oundle School.
Henry Winter worked for the Independent from 1987-1994, and has been with the Daily Telegraph from 1994 to the present day. He is a regular contributor to Sky Sports, and the BBC (radio and television). He was also ghostwritten the autobiographies of Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard, John Barnes and David Davies (former executive director of the FA).
Investigative journalism depends on an unswerving pursuit of truth based on fact. Martyn Gregory, one of Britain’s finest journalists has been denounced and vilified, but has stood resolutely by his evidence. Martyn spoke to the School’s Clare Society about a few of his stories that have challenged authority.
In 1995 Martyn wrote a Channel 4 Dispatches programme which revealed how British companies secretly evaded export controls on the supply of electric shock equipment to countries where such equipment is used in torture. The programme was denounced by the government, who said that he had manufactured the story. In the face of reels of taped evidence supporting the story, ministers were forced to withdraw their allegations, apologise in the High Court, and pay Martyn damages in what was the first successful libel action against the government.
Martyn also focused on the investigation he made into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. Asked to investigate Mohamed al Fayed’s allegation that the death of Diana “was no accident”, his findings were reported in Channel 4's Dispatches in 1998. Martyn later reported on the findings of the six month inquest for a Sky News documentary, which he showed to the pupils.
English teacher, Laura Burden commented, “It was useful for our pupils to see how tenacious journalists have to be when researching a documentary but also to see how rewarding it can be to work in that field.”