Nicola Bulley And Selective Editing

Our free and fearless press wanted the world to know that Part 1 of the Leveson Inquiry taught them a lesson which they had learned well: from that point, there would be no more illegal information gathering, no more intrusion into grief, no more use of paparazzi photos, no more defending the indefensible. And if you believe that, I have a Garden Bridge to sell you.

Nicola Bulley

That the press has not changed one jot was underscored by the statement put out yesterday by Lancashire Police on behalf of the family of Nicola Bulley, following the sad news that the body found earlier in the River Wyre was that of the missing woman. The media does not come out of it well.

“We will never forget Nikki, how could we, she was the centre of our world, she was the one who made our lives so special and nothing will cast a shadow over that … Our girls will get the support they need from the people who love them the most”. Then came the part focusing on the press.

“And it saddens us to think that one day we will have to explain to them that the press and members of the public accused their dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified friends and family. This is absolutely appalling, they have to be held accountable this cannot happen to another family”.

Do go on. “We tried last night to take in what we had been told in the day, only to have Sky News and ITV making contact with us directly when we expressly asked for privacy. They again, have taken it upon themselves to run stories about us to sell papers and increase their own profiles. It is shameful they have acted in this way. Leave us alone now”. It wasn’t just the press.

But it was the press who continued to get it in the neck. “Do the press and other media channels and so called professionals not know when to stop? These are our lives and our children's lives”. So let’s mosey over to the Daily Mail, to see just how full their disclosure of the criticism is this morning.

Except it isn’t: all the media criticism has been excised from the Mail’s report. All of it. But there is plenty of unpleasantness being aimed at the cops, following two of their pundits indulging in highly personal attacks on one of the senior officers involved, something Zelo Street covered yesterday.

There has also been a broadside from the deeply unpleasant Dan Wootton, another of those economic migrants like Amanda Bloody Platell without whom the print media would be a less poisonous place. Sadly, the Mail is not the only media outlet censoring that statement to spare its blushes.

As David Challen observed, “Newspapers front pages cover Nicola Bulley, however none (excl The Guardian + the i) report the family's criticism of the media + press … Mail and the i have even gone to the lengths to EDIT the text of the family's statement to omit the worst of their criticism of the press?!”

Professor Brian Cathcart reminded us “Under their ‘Editors’ Code of Practice’ every UK national newspaper makes this promise to the public: ‘In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively”.

Or, in this case, maybe not. And nothing will be done, not by the press, and not even by our elected representatives, so craven and timid have they become in the face of the mafia operation that is the Fourth Estate. Campaigner Evan Harris made this point on the Radio 4 Today programme.

“There’s impunity, effectively. We saw this with Grenfell, we saw this with the Manchester Arena bombing. Every time there’s a tragedy like this, there is criticism of the newspapers and nothing happens. Suella Braverman and Yvette Cooper and Rishi Sunak have criticised the Police. Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong. Will we hear a politician get off their knees to attack the press, the power of the press and their abuse of ordinary people? I doubt it”. Our media class has once again behaved abominably.

But in their own minds, they have done nothing wrong. As with any addiction, those addicted have first to admit their problem. It’s all gone quiet.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton