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James O'Brien criticises the commentators 'who were gleeful in their coverage of the mounting accusations and allegations' against former Cambridge University professor Jason Arday.
He observes that 'two things can be true' - 'they found things he [Arday] needed to be held accountable for - and it began with a racist'.
Professor Arday, 41, had resigned from his post as the Professor of Sociology of Education last week after allegations of plagiarism were made against him.
He was pronounced dead after emergency services were called to an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday following reports that a man had been found unresponsive inside a property.
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0:00
I'd read a couple of texts before we get into this horrible story in more detail
0:08
Here's one from Matt. Can we also talk about the vile doubling down and trolling from vampires like
0:14
and then you mentioned some name, who are still blaming the poor guy when
0:19
will they be held liable? Did Caroline Flack teach them nothing? And a few people have raised the memory of Caroline Flack, who took her own life, as Jason Arday did
0:31
It was reported late on Friday. Matt in Northampton says, no one has learned a single thing from Caroline Flack's death
0:38
Not a single thing. I've never seen the guy. But as soon as I heard the news, I felt so sad
0:42
What a stupid thing to hound someone to death. I mean, there's quite strong guidance on talking about suicides, and there's never one reason
0:51
speculation is is generally discouraged because you will never know what was going on in someone's
0:58
mind at the at the crucial moment but you will know what was going on in our world up to that
1:05
moment um will points out i suppose the context for your conversation would need a white guy
1:12
getting exactly the same levels of relentless coverage um well caroline was was of course white
1:18
and had been accused of, I don't think anyone had accused Jason Arday of any crimes
1:23
but she'd certainly been accused, she had been accused of a crime
1:27
The narrative, and it's one that has been explored by her mother as well
1:32
including in an incredibly emotional call to Sheila Fogarty on this radio station
1:36
the narrative was that the media spotlight was a contributory factor and the thing that the spotlight was pointed at
1:44
albeit that it was prompted by events, It was still a person
1:51
And you forget that, or people forget that. It is a story, and you forget that it's a person
2:00
I remember a million years ago, I was having a right old pop at the footballer Frank Lampard
2:07
I was just reading all the stuff in the newspapers about him falling out with his ex
2:12
and I did what was commonplace in tabloid newspapers at the time
2:17
but I'd not done it on the radio before. And he rang in
2:22
And he was deeply, deeply upset with how I was characterising his private life
2:27
And I remember thinking, probably that afternoon actually, that's a person, it's not just a story
2:34
I was quite wet behind the ears here myself. And on newspapers, you forget completely
2:38
that stories are about people. And I'm not defending what was done in the print media
2:44
this last week. But if I had to, if I had to mount a defence
2:52
and some of the stuff I've seen is indefensible, I'll tell you in a moment why I'm not going to read it out to you
2:57
or indeed name any names of the people responsible. If I had to mount a defence, it would be that in this profession
3:04
we often forget that people are stories and stories are people, real people
3:11
I hope I don't do that anymore. I haven't really done it since that encounter all those years ago
3:18
But I probably do. You know, I probably do. The reason I'm not going to mention any names may disappoint you or surprise you
3:29
I don't know that you get to control where the pylons go next
3:36
I don't know how people who were gleeful, the word I would use is gleeful
3:42
I got sent a lot of examples over the weekend of people who were absolutely gleeful in their coverage of the mounting accusations and allegations against Jason Arday
3:54
The central one, that he'd plagiarised his PhD thesis at John Moore's university
4:00
I think I told you a week and a bit ago that I'd seen elements of the investigation into that
4:07
and that not only was he exonerated in that inquiry and I can see why there are calls for
4:12
a more independent inquiry but actually the culpability was in large part self it was directed back at Liverpool John Moores University for a failure to properly supervise or to accommodate his special educational needs
4:27
That was missing from the story from the very start. The person who started it all is a white supremacist
4:36
someone who believes that there should be or there would be no black people in academia
4:40
if, I don't know, diversity, equity and inclusion programmes hadn't existed
4:50
So there are many moving parts to what happened, but for me, and you can disagree with me on this
4:58
it's obviously going to be a phone-in. 03456060973 is obviously going to be the number
5:06
It is... It is the... the nature of the story and the reality of the human being got completely blurred
5:22
The reason why I'm not going to mention names or read anything out, despite the incredible sort of avalanche of really hideous commentary
5:30
is because I think you possibly become part of the same problem. So imagine a columnist or a broadcaster who had been really, really gleeful about it
5:38
and I now went for them. Would I not be guilty of doing so
5:42
So I'll talk about what I have said. I'll talk about myself. But I don't know..
5:47
You could disagree, and you may have to disagree with me in order to answer the question that I'm about to ask you
5:52
because there are growing calls for some sort of public inquiry or investigation into what is called the media onslaught
6:00
the vicious media onslaught against Jason Arday. I thought that he was being quite naive when he resigned
6:07
if he thought that it would stop, but there were things that really, really shocked me
6:12
in the aftermath of his resignation. The story that really shocked me
6:16
and David Aranovic has written a brilliant short substack about this. David is one of the substackers I subscribe to
6:22
And he, like me, focused on a story last week from a young woman whose name was not disclosed
6:28
I can't remember which newspaper she wrote in. But she wrote about how he wasn't a very good teacher
6:34
And it was anonymous, and it was from, I think, very early on in his career
6:38
And it was after he had resigned. and there was a sort of gleefulness in the coverage of that story
6:43
almost a sort of rubbing of hands with glee about yet another accusation to level at him
6:52
And some of the accusations, obviously he needed to be held accountable for
6:56
That's something that he said himself, something with which I completely agreed
7:00
And yet some of the stuff that came out, especially after he had already resigned
7:06
what else could he have done but resign? And he did. He resigned. And then it carried on. So the word I use is gleefulness. There was a gleefulness in it that I think was related to his ethnicity and related to a sort of form of tall poppy syndrome, but mostly his ethnicity because he wasn't exactly a household name before these allegations and accusations emerged
7:33
So I told you a week ago last Friday that I felt personally let down by Jason Arday because I had spent an hour in his company
7:44
I'd done a long interview with him on my Full Disclosure series and I had been utterly, utterly beguiled by him
7:50
Completely beguiled by him personally and by his story. And I have a job that involves talking about the news
7:57
so obviously for me to talk about the news and not talk about my personal um encounter with the man
8:05
my personal uh experiences with the man would have been deeply deeply disingenuous and dishonest of
8:11
me and i'm glad that i did not as disingenuous or as dishonest as talking about him every day last
8:16
week and not even mentioning the fact that he's dead this morning and that's a whole different
8:20
planet of disingenuousness but if i'd sought to conduct that debate without sharing with you my
8:26
own feelings. It would have been ridiculous of me to ask you to share your feelings as well. So
8:33
I felt as I told you at the time very let down because I had believed every single syllable of his story both academically and personally And I felt on Friday night when news of his death broke I just thought how pathetic and unnecessary that sounded
8:54
You know, who cares what you think or feel? I'd still do the same thing if we were there again
9:01
because I would never have known when I talked about it that the story was going to end like this
9:07
but I said to you didn't I a week ago last Friday I'm always wary of bringing a personal angle
9:14
to a conversation making it in any way shape or form about me but I'd met him and you hadn't so
9:21
I wanted to tell you what I thought what I felt and um and what I found and the only person whose
9:27
name I have put into the sphere is the racist who started the witch hunt because it was a witch hunt
9:36
Again, I said to you a week last Friday it was a witch hunt, but then they found some evidence of witchcraft
9:41
for want of a better phrase. They found things that he needed to be held accountable for
9:47
And it began with a racist. That's two things being true at the same time
9:54
in the most uncomfortable way. In the most uncomfortable way. So, the gleefulness for me is the most damning and shameful element of this entire story
10:09
Not the reporting. Don't blame the journalists who pursued the story. The gleefulness of the commentary is for me the thing that we're looking at here
10:21
And there are parallels to be drawn there with Caroline Flack. this is my position and I'm going to invite you to disagree in a moment
10:29
he resigned from his position and the gleeful witch hunt continued if anything it gathered pace every single element of his backstory
10:39
much of which appears to be worthy of further investigation but every single element of his
10:48
does it actually appear to be worthy of further investigation you know I'm not a fan of whataboutery
10:54
but Ian Duncan Smith's CV was found to contain all manner of embellishments and exaggerations
10:59
and it didn't stop him being leader of the Conservative Party and a putative Prime Minister
11:06
You have a kind of, what would the word be, a grim acceptance that this is how the world works
11:19
You know, this is how the media works. the nature, once a sniff of blood is in the water
11:27
the nature of the sharks is such that I don't know that any investigation under the sun would change anything
11:35
I think Simon Baron-Cohen who spoke very powerfully about his friend Jason Arday
11:39
at the weekend is right when he says that the investigation at Cambridge should continue
11:46
but what on earth will we do with the finding that he hadn't plagiarised his PhD
11:52
if that turns out to be the case. If the original allegation turns out not to hold
11:59
what do we do with that? Probably never talk about it again if you were one of the people displaying glee
12:08
So... What exactly would the point of an inquiry into the media onslaught be
12:17
That's one of the headlines today. It's a call from a very honourable man
12:22
Simon, now Lord Woolley, who's the principal of Homerton College, Cambridge. He's described the most horrendous, toxic, vicious witch hunt
12:30
before his death. And remember, my background is in newspapers, and I used to be one of those slightly ghoulish individuals
12:37
that argued that if you are in the public sphere, if your public life had..
12:43
if you pursued a public life, a public profile, a public reputation, then the price you paid for
12:48
all the benefits that that brings is scrutiny and is criticism and is critique. And a large part of
12:54
me still believes that to be true. But there was something about last week's coverage that just
12:58
felt way too much didn it And for me at least the entry point would be the gleefulness The entry point would be the gleefulness So as he said himself he needed to be held accountable for
13:13
some of the claims that he'd made, as I said myself, having believed every single one of
13:19
those claims, very, very unquestioningly, I felt very silly. And as I'm saying to you now
13:26
Me feeling silly seems to be an utterly, utterly irrelevant point, given what happened on Friday night
13:35
So make of that what you will. The phone lines are open 0345 6060 973
13:40
I would remind you that the Samaritans are available 24-7, if any of these issues affect you
13:48
and that their number is 116123. the facts of the story are pretty much well known to you the gleefulness of the coverage is i think
14:00
you'd agree the reason why many people are calling for an investigation into how the media behaved
14:08
the media that behaved most badly will either double down on what they've done or go completely
14:15
silent um that there is no real i don't think you'll ever be hearing any um self-reflection or
14:22
self uh blaming and in that kind of corner where the gleefulness was that just involves either
14:31
staying silent and never talking about it again or doubling down and the reason why i don't think
14:37
it is appropriate to go after individuals i even thought twice about sharing some footage at the
14:44
weekend of the bloke who got fired from Cambridge, who started all of this, the racist who started
14:50
all of this. I even thought twice about sharing footage of that, but they released an interview
14:55
on the morning after Jason Arday died. So, I mean, that is to me a request for attention
15:02
But, you know, that kind of pressure can break people, whatever side of an argument they're on
15:09
I think it broke Jason, although I can't obviously speculate with any certainty about the straws that broke Camel's backs
15:16
But I wouldn't sit here if the bloke who had started the witch hunt also ended up in a state of deep emotional distress and contemplated going down that path
15:28
You know, we all in some ways put straws on Camel's backs
15:33
We all do. And I don't know, maybe that sounds absolutely daft to you, that today is not the day to start listing the worst offenders or going after the commentators and columnists who were gleeful, gleeful in their hounding of this man, as opposed to measured, as the news reporters were
15:56
or reflective as those of us who knew him and felt dismayed by a perceived betrayal as we felt
16:05
So 03456060973. I'd say one thing actually that I did think about at the weekend
16:12
and that I do feel personally, I think guilt probably about. And I shouldn't have forgotten that he was still beguiling
16:25
you know it can't have all been invented, it wasn't all flammary or
16:33
exaggeration or embellishment you know, there was something there that was very very special and
16:42
it's not there anymore David Aronovich again mentioned Icarus and I couldn't get that image out of my head
16:49
actually, when I was thinking about this at the weekend and you just flew so close to the sun that your wings fell off
16:58
And it doesn't really matter what your wings are made of. The tragedy is the death
17:06
23 minutes after 11 is the time. So, actually, yeah, I think all I'm going to ask you is this
17:12
What do you think? What do you think? And, of course, crucially on this programme, what do you feel
17:18
What has this story done to you? 0345 6060 973 is the number that you need
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