Meirion Jones

Meirion Jones is a British journalist working as Investigations Producer on the BBC Two Newsnight programme.

In 2010 he won the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Daniel Pearl Award for his investigation of the dumping of Trafigura’s toxic waste in Africa.^[1] He has been described by Greg Palast, as “the nonpareil investigative journalist”^[2] and by Robin Denselow in UK Press Gazette as "one of the best investigative journalists around".^[3] Jones has investigated many subjects including the 'fixing' of the US Presidential Election in 2000, toxic waste dumping in Africa, how Britain helped Israel’s nuclear weapons programme, market-rigging by multinationals, bogus bomb detectors, Tsunami aid,^[4] terror and security,^[5] political scandals^[6][7] and financial scams.^[8]

Early career

Jones was the first full-time Editor of the Cardiff student paper "Gair Rhydd".^[9] He worked at Your Computer magazine^[10] then freelanced at New Scientist where he wrote about everything from food poisoning to how to phase out the CFCs which at the time were damaging the ozone layer.^[11][12] He has also written freelance for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent.

Investigations

Trafigura

Jones has made a series of films over three years exposing how toxic waste from the oil trader Trafigura came to be illegally dumped in Abidjan in Africa rather than safely disposed of in the Netherlands.^[13] According to the government of Ivory Coast 16 people died and thousands were poisoned by the waste. The films were made in the face of pressure from Trafigura’s lawyers Carter-Ruck who were attempting to close down press coverage of Trafigura’s role in the scandal. Ultimately Carter-Ruck even attempted to use a super-injunction to stop The Guardian reporting mentions of Trafigura in Parliament. In response to the pressure Jones set up a network of international journalists and investigators to share information on the dumping, informally known as “Team Trafigura”. As David Leigh of The Guardian wrote "This time, the reporters were determined not to be picked off one by one. They included journalists from Norway, the Netherlands and Estonia, and Meirion Jones from BBC Two's Newsnight, which has led the way in doggedly analysing Trafigura's activities."^[14] In April 2010 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists gave the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting to the members of that team for exposing “how a powerful offshore oil trader tried to cover up the poisoning of 30,000 West Africans”.^[15] The six named on the award were Meirion Jones and reporter Liz Mackean from Newsnight, David Leigh from The Guardian, Kjersti Knudsson and Synnove Bakke from NRK in Norway and Jeroen Trommelen from De Volksrant in the Netherlands. In July 2010, Jones and Mackean reported on the final conviction of Trafigura in the Dutch courts for illegally exporting toxic waste to Africa.^[16] The Trafigura row along with the Simon Singh case and others has helped motivate the Libel Reform Campaign which has persuaded the British government to begin reform of the libel laws in 2011.

Vulture funds

Since 2007 Jones and Greg Palast have been investigating Vulture fund operations, which attempt to divert into their own pockets, the money given by Western governments to pay off the debts of poor countries. The Vultures buy up the debt cheaply, and then when it is about to be written off, sue for the full value plus interest often in the British courts. These films formed the centrepiece of a campaign backed by Oxfam and the Jubilee Debt Campaign to outlaw this practice through a Debt Relief Bill. The first film in 2007 exposed an American vulture who liked to call himself 'Goldfinger' who was suing Zambia.^[17] It was rebroadcast in the USA and seen by two Congressmen who immediately went to the White House and asked President Bush face-to-face to curb the vulture funds.^[18] The last film which focused on vultures suing Liberia was broadcast in February 2010 on the eve of the Second Reading of the UK Debt Relief Bill.^[19] The bill became law.^[20] In November 2010 the funds who had been suing Liberia had to agree to accept around $1 million which they were entitled to under the new act rather than the $43 million which had been awarded by the British courts.^[21]

Market rigging

On 15 October 2010 the multi-national Reckitt Benckiser was fined £10 million for rigging the market for Gaviscon following an investigation by Jones and Martin Shankleman.^[22] Ann Pope, senior director at the OFT said "This important case was brought to our attention by BBC Newsnight, after a whistleblower took his story to the programme. The fine announced today sends a clear signal to businesses in a dominant position that we will take strong action against this sort of anti-competitive behaviour."^[23][24]

Nuclear weapons and Israel

In 2005-6 Meirion Jones made three films with Michael Crick on nuclear weapons and Israel which revealed for the first time how Britain had helped Israel's nuclear weapons programme. Papers obtained through Freedom of Information showed how the UK had secretly exported the heavy water to Israel to start up the Dimona nuclear reactor and had supplied Israel with samples of uranium 235, plutonium and lithium 6.^[25] Jones wrote a print version of the revelations which New Statesman ran as their cover story.^[26]

Bogus bomb detectors

On 22 January 2010 the British government announced that it would ban the export of “magic wand” type bomb detectors to Iraq and Afghanistan because of the danger to British and allied troops.^[27] The ban on the ADE651, GT200, Alpha 6 and similar products was the result of an investigation by Jones and the BBC's former Baghdad correspondent Caroline Hawley broadcast that day which showed that the detectors did not and could not work.^[28][29] Hundreds of people may have died in blasts in Baghdad after bombers passed through checkpoints that were only protected by these bogus bomb detectors.^[30] A police investigation is continuing into the companies that made these so-called detectors.

Olympics cash for gold medals scandal

Jones and Anna Adams uncovered evidence of secret payments of nine million dollars from Azerbaijan to a competition called World Series Boxing run by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) which organises boxing at the Olympics. Whistleblowers from inside AIBA/WSB claimed that WSB's chief said the money was in return for a guarantee that Azerbaijani fighters would win two boxing gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics. AIBA and WSB admit they received the money but deny there was any deal to guarantee Azerbaijan gold medals at London. The Ethics Committee of the International Olympic Committee has now asked the BBC for their evidence so they can investigate.^[31] Days later the Daily Mail revealed that the rules at the World Boxing Championships, which AIBA had already controversially moved to Baku, had been switched "to favour Azerbaijan" and give them a better chance of qualifying boxers for the Olympics.^[32]

United States Presidential election 2000

Jones and Greg Palast revealed how many black voters in Florida had been barred from voting in the 2000 election^[33] by a purge of the Florida Central Voter File. Jones and Palast have been working together since 1998 and have made more than a dozen investigative films on subjects such as oil and the war in Iraq, the Bin Laden family, the Bush family, the coup against Chavez, and Vulture Funds.

References

1. ^ Center for Public Integrity, 24 April 2010
2. ^ Greg Palast Armed Madhouse, London: Penguin 2007, p.384
3. ^ Press Gazette, 15 May 2008
4. ^ Newsnight, 19 December 2006
5. ^ Daily Telegraph, 8 May 2008
6. ^ Daily Telegraph, 27 October 2005
7. ^ The Times, 7 June 2008
8. ^ "Undercover actor exposes 'Aids cure'", Daily Telegraph, 1 December 2006
9. ^ [1]
10. ^ [2]
11. ^ [3] Hospital caterers 'could cause listeriosis epidemic' New Scientist 21 July 1988
12. ^ [4] In search of the safe CFCs New Scientist 26 May 1988
13. ^ Newsnight, 16 September 2009
14. ^ The Guardian, 21 September 2009
15. ^ Center for Public Integrity, 24 April 2010
16. ^ BBC News, 23 July 2010
17. ^ Newsnight, 14 February 2007
18. ^ Democracy Now, 16 February 2007
19. ^ The Guardian, 25 November 2009
20. ^ Newsnight, 8 April 2008
21. ^ BBC News, 23 November 2010
22. ^ Newsnight, 7 March 2008
23. ^ BBC News, 15 October 2010
24. ^ Daily Telegraph, 16 October 2010
25. ^ Newsnight, 10 March 2006
26. ^ New Statesman, 13 March 2006
27. ^ Newsnight, 22 January 2010
28. ^ Newsnight, 22 January
29. ^ Daily Telegraph, 23 January 2010
30. ^ New York Times, 4 April 2009
31. ^ BBC 22 September 2011
32. ^ Daily Mail 28 September 2011
33. ^ Newsnight, 16 February 2001

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