John Sweeney (journalist)

John Sweeney is an award-winning journalist and author, currently working as an investigative journalist for the BBC's "Panorama" series.

Investigative journalism

Before joining the BBC in 2001, Sweeney worked for twelve years at "The Observer," where he covered wars and revolutions in more than sixty countries including Romania, Algeria, Iraq, Chechnya, Burundi and BosniaFact|date=May 2007.

Barclay brothers suit

In 1996, John Sweeney was sued for criminal defamation in France by the Barclay brothers, owners of the "Daily Telegraph", but the claimants lost their case. At the time, Sweeney worked for the rival newspaper "The Observer", and had given an interview on BBC Radio Guernsey alleging that they had been involved in corruption [cite web |title= the Barclays, BBC, Times and Sweeney - choosing a forum in cross-border action |work=Caslon Analytics defamation profile |url=http://www.caslon.com.au/defamationprofile7.htm#barclays|accessdate=2007-05-18] . Since the broadcast could also be heard in northern France, the claimants were able to bring their claim in the French courts. Sweeney was ordered to pay €3000 by the appeal court in Rennes, France [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article728818.ece Telegraph owners use French courts in libel case] ; [http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,3604,1463785,00.html Barclays head for France to sue the Times] ] .

Zimbabwe

John Sweeney reported on mass graves in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe for the BBC in 2002. Mugabe had banned BBC reporters from the country, forcing Sweeney to hide in a car boot in order to travel to a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/1852133.stm BBC NEWS | Programmes | Correspondent | Zimbabwe burning ] ] .

Cot death investigation

John Sweeney spent four years investigating the cases of Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and Donna Anthony, three women who had been falsely imprisoned for killing their children. Sweeney's investigation helped to clear their names, and lead to Sir Roy Meadow, the expert witness whose testimony had proved decisive in their convictions, being temporarily struck off the General Medical Council's medical register. Sweeney received the Paul Foot Award in 2005 in recognition of his work. [ [http://www.nuj.org.uk/inner.php?docid=1100 Sweeney wins Paul Foot Award for ‘relentless pursuit of justice’] ]

Investigative report on Scientology

"Scientology and Me", a "Panorama" investigation into Scientology written and presented by Sweeney, was aired on BBC One on Monday, 14 May 2007. Prior to its airing, video footage filmed by the Church of Scientology was released on YouTube [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okKYSSRQodQ John Sweeney - BBC Panorama Reporter at work (Scientologist Video of events)] - YouTube clip] and on DVD [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=454430&in_page_id=1773 (Travolta and DVD Distribution by Scientology) "The Daily Mail" 14th May 2007] ] that showed Sweeney shouting at Scientology representative Tommy Davis during a visit to CCHR's "". The clips were sections of a documentary the Church of Scientology's Freedom Magazine TV produced about the BBC Panorama programme. [ [http://www.bbcpanorama-exposed.org BBC Panorama Exposed site showing the full documentary] ] [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/14/nbbc14.xml Daily Telegraph of 15 May 2007, "BBC reporter blows his top at Scientologist", retrieved 2007-06-06] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVAeL8AyYeI YouTube Clip of John Sweeney's apology] ] .

Sweeney remarked that he lost his temper due to days of harassment by Davis and the Church, and a strong personal reaction to the psychiatry exhibit. He had been visited at his hotel by Davis, despite not having shared the address with the Church, and had been followed on several different occasions. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6650545.stm Row over Scientology video] , John Sweeney, BBC News, 12th May 2007] Sweeney labeled the clips "attack videos" and others say they were produced to discredit Sweeney and the documentary. [cite news | last = Staff | first = | coauthors = Anderson Cooper | title = Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees - Inside Scientology | work = Anderson Cooper 360 | pages = | language = | publisher = CNN | date = April, 14, 2007 | url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/14/acd.01.html | accessdate = ]

The BBC in response aired its own full recording of the incident. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6650000/newsid_6651700?redirect=6651721.stm&news=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&nbram=1- BBC Report on John Sweeney (BBC Video of events) ] - BBC News clip 14th May 2007] Panorama's Editor Sandy Smith explained what happened and how the BBC dealt with the incident in a post on the BBC's Editor's Blog.cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/05/investigating_scientology_1.html |title= Investigating Scientology |author= Sandy Smith |format= html |work= BBC News Editors Blog |date= 14 May 2007 |quote= It's not a question of us setting out to call Scientology a cult - it's just a question of us asking legitimate questions, and their organisation being unwilling to engage seriously with us. And when you go in as a journalist to try and deal with that, it's explosive. ] The edition attracted "Panorama"'s highest audience of the current series so far. [cite web |first=Joanne |last=Oatts|title= Journalist's 'Panorama' outburst brings in 4.4m |work=DigitalSpy |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a46624/journalists-panorama-outburst-brings-in-44m.html|accessdate=2007-05-15]

Books

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Awards

Sweeney has won several awards throughout his career, including [Award list Available: http://www.projectklebnikov.org/members/sweeney.html Accessed: 17th May, 2007] :
* 1998: What the Papers Say Journalist of the Year prize for reports on human rights abuses in Algeria.
* 2000: an Emmy Award and a Royal Television Society prize for programs about the Massacre at Krusha e Madhe, Kosovo.
* 2001: the Amnesty International prize for "Victims of the Torture Train," about human rights abuses in Chechnya.
* 2003: a Sony Gold award (2003) for Best Radio News program.
* 2004: a Royal Television Society prize (2004) for "Angela's Hope," a BBC One documentary about a woman wrongly convicted of murdering her three babies.
* 2005: The Paul Foot Award.

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/6229043.stm#john Profile on the Panorama Website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/05/investigating_scientology_1.html BBC Editors Blog: Investigating Scientology]
* [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/568883?view=credit Filmography at the British Film Institute]
*cite news| last =Sweeney, John| coauthors =Presented by Kate Adie
title =FOOC: Justin Webb on US Democrat primaries 1 Mar 08| work =From Our Own Correspondent| publisher =BBC Radio 4, John Sweeney reports on the death in Florida of a noted opponent of Scientology: 17 minutes, 30 seconds into Podcast| date =March 1, 2008| url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/fooc/?focuswin| accessdate =2008-03-01