Lord Falconer questions accuracy of 24-hour rolling news

Lord Falconer, the former secretary of state for justice, last night questioned the accuracy of modern rolling news cycle at the annual Tom Olsen lecture, this year given by Sky News' political editor, Adam Boulton.

Speaking at the event held at Brides Church, Fleet Street in London, Falconer criticised, among others, the incorrect Sky News report that the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbasset Al Megrahi, had died last month.

The broadcast was picked up and reported globally, only to have his lawyer deny the claims. Lord Falconer claimed that the instant reporting of many events was irresponsible.

"The public can wait for an hour or two, isn't it possibly damaging to give instant news?" he asked Boulton.

Boulton defended the constant broadcast coverage offered by Sky News, arguing that the public were able to put live news in context.

"It is about people being grown up. It is very different from conventional broadcasting [that] forced people to watch what you thought was good for them," Boulton said. "We allow people to become their own editor (...) it is liberating for people to inform themselves."

But many people did not differentiate between an instant news flash and an official source, Falconer later told Journalism.co.uk. He said the public can be equally 'disturbed' by both, even if the news was fed through with few checks.

Boulton argued that Sky did take the blame for mistakes, but claimed that they were mostly caused by inaccurate official sources.

"What we said was true, but the reports were inaccurate that [Al Megrahi] had died. That was a mistake on our part (...) when we make mistakes, it is mistakes from official sources."

Earlier in the annual Tom Olsen lecture - titled '24/7 News - Free & Irresponsible?' - Boulton countered the claim that rolling news causes the media to drift into inaccuracy.

In contrast to newspapers that operate traditionally on slower set news cycles,  '24-hour news has airtime to show events unfold,' Boulton said.

"Our authority is derived from the authenticity we show. You can draw a conclusion in that time (...) the idea that [newspapers] are more accurate than 24-hour news is bogus."

Chris Kay (@christopherkay) is a postgraduate newspaper journalism student at City University.

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).