For more than half a century, Spotlight has roved a beam over Northern Ireland, illuminating dark and overlooked topics. But now the flagship BBC documentary series is itself in the glare of scrutiny.
Gerry Adams’ victory in a libel case on Friday dealt a heavy blow to Spotlight and the BBC and raises questions over the programme and the impact of the case on journalism in the UK and Ireland.
The broadcaster faces having to pay €100,000 (£84,000) in damages and potentially several million euros in legal costs, as well as challenges over the future of investigative journalism and current affairs in Northern Ireland.
Since launching in 1973, Spotlight has won countless scoops and awards. But that hard-won reputation and credibility took a hit when a jury at Dublin’s high court found that a 2016 documentary, and an accompanying online article, libelled the former Sinn Féin leader by carrying a false claim that he had sanctioned the murder of an MI5 informant in 2006. The jury found that the BBC had not acted in good faith or in a fair and reasonable way.
“It’s a blow for the BBC but it’s important that Spotlight does continue,” said Jim Fitzpatrick, a former Spotlight reporter. “They’re a talented team that doubtless will have more investigations to come. The journalists and producers will be keen to get on with the next one. You take these hits.”
Others were less sanguine and worried that the impact could spread to less well-funded media organisations.
“Spotlight is somewhere between well regarded and revered,” said Noel Doran, a former editor of the Irish News. “It is the flagship documentary strand with heavyweight presenters and major stories. They’ve got the resources and can take months or a year or even more to get a story.”
For Spotlight to lose such a high-profile, expensive case was a bad day for journalism, Doran said. “There will be a chilling effect in newsrooms. People will be thinking very carefully about anything to do with Adams. There is a danger that a much more benign view of the Troubles becomes more commonplace.”
The trial’s outcome cast a harsh light on Spotlight’s decision to carry the now discredited claim about Adams based on an anonymous source called Martin. The trial heard that the BBC obtained corroboration from five other sources but these were not mentioned in the programme.
The verdict also puts into question the decision of Adam Smyth, the director of BBC Northern Ireland, to fight the case rather than settle. Doran said the BBC probably could have avoided an expensive legal showdown. “Almost every case can be settled with a bit of flexibility on all sides.”
Doran said the documentary’s sourcing of the disputed claim had left it vulnerable. “Jennifer O’Leary came across as a sincere, committed reporter but the programme came across as dubious.”
Some BBC staffers worry that chastened managers may soft-pedal investigations or trim budgets.
The documentary was viewed by an estimated 16,000 people in the Republic of Ireland, which allowed Adams to fight the case under Irish libel law and with a jury.
Adams denies having been a member of the IRA but has not taken legal action against longstanding, widespread claims that he was a commander in Belfast and a member of the IRA army council. Spotlight raised the stakes by carrying the claim that he sanctioned a specific murder years after the 1998 Good Friday agreement.
