I’m reassured by News of the World chief reporter Neville
Thurlbeck’s statement (15 April) that his awardwinning “Beckham scoop”
was “broken without any money changing hands”.
He says: “The
story worked because [the editor] allowed me three months off-diary …
[for] laborious investigation in Australia and Spain, gathering
hundreds of little pieces of evidence…”
As I recall it, the story involved two grown-ups having a brief clandestine affair – the product of three months’
work on two continents, interviewing hundreds of people and costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Related
“Sadly,” says Thurlbeck, “most newspapers don’t resource editors like this paper does.”
Too
true. Thank God the NoW is still prepared to put real money into
journalism that challenges the corrupt and powerful in society!
Tim Gopsill Editor, The Journalist
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