Panorama presenter receives £90,000 after libel battle with blog editor

Panorama reporter John Ware sued Paddy French after a 2019 episode titled Is Labor anti-Semitic? (Photo: John Ware)

Panorama journalist John Ware has been awarded £90,000 in damages following a libel suit with a blog editor who claimed an investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labor Party was ‘rogue journalism’.

Investigative reporter Ware sued retired TV producer Paddy French over claims that a BBC 2019 episode – titled Is Labor Anti-Semitic? – “the truth bent to the breaking point.”

The 74-year-old presenter initially took legal action against editor French for £50,000 over a pamphlet entitled ‘Is the BBC anti-Labour?’ which he published on his Press Gang website.

French had claimed that Ware’s Panorama program had been “a piece of rogue journalism that presented only one side of the argument and ignored fundamental facts.”

The article was sent directly to over 100 senior managers and journalists at the BBC, as well as staff from other media organisations, and was also distributed to BBC staff outside Broadcasting House in December 2019.

A Supreme Court judge ruled on Wednesday that Frans was “deliberately calculated to inflict injury to Ware” by making accusations of “the utmost seriousness” to the detriment of the journalist’s reputation.

Ware explained that he was happy to be “fully vindicated.” (Photo: PA)
Ware told the court it was falsely alleged that he ‘deliberately spread false information’ (Picture: BBC)

Judge Julian Knowles also said French tried “maliciously” to create “a myth, a false narrative” about the progress of the libel case, adding that the blog editor had shown an attitude of “contempt” towards the proceedings.

Ware told the court that it was falsely alleged that he had “deliberately spread false information” and had been “unconscionable and dishonest” as this was the “antithesis of everything he has stood for in his 50 years as a journalist”.

In his ruling, Judge Julian Knowles said the journalist was “proud” of his and his colleagues’ work on a “well-timed” production on “a matter of considerable public interest.”

The judge said it appeared that French “never had the necessary evidence to prove the allegations were true” and had “seriously aggravated the harm to Ware” by ensuring that any judgment would be deemed “unjustified or unfair” .

“I have no hesitation in concluding that the article has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to[Ware],” the judge concluded.

In a statement following Wednesday’s verdict, Ware explained that he was “happy to be fully upheld by the court.”

He added that he hoped the case would send a signal that “hard criticism is fine; attributing evil motives to arguments you passionately disagree with is not.”

Elsewhere, in a separate statement, French said he was “naturally disappointed” and claimed the case “raises serious questions about press freedom in Britain”.

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