I remember the Milly Dowler voicemail hack, which shocked the nation, closed down the News of the World, and set in train the Leveson inquiry on the culture and practises of the press in the UK. It happened in the week that after 10 years there, I left the BBC.
Although I'm not a journalist, watching the drama series The Hack, which was broadcast at the end of September, made for ITV in the UK, and STAN in Australia, has brought back a lot of thoughts on why public service journalism matters.
The seven part series brings us into the worl d of tabloid journalism, phone hacking, and the Daniel Morgan case - brought fully into the public eye by Nick Davies and the Guardian in 2009. I think I'd struggle to explain the case and its significance in British media and politics but there's a good explainer here.
I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I'm very surprised about the amount of negative press reviews the series had in the UK. It's a complicated story, spanning decades, so it's not the most obvious or easy drama. But David Tennant and Toby Jones give great performances. And it gave full weight to the link with the second narrative of the Daniel Morgan murder case which I must say I hadn't appreciated at the time. Adam Wishart produced an excellent documentary series for Channel 4 about the case.
Maybe there are other ways the series could have been made. Maybe journalists don't appreciate dramas about journalism. But this was the way it was made. The problem for me is, If we put people off watching one of the biggest stories about our profession, then it may be a long wait until another one comes along. And meanwhile, independent and public service journalism is pushed further and further into the background and the audience has less and less trust in what journalists (and documentary makers) tell us.
I'm really pleased to read that the series has been acquired by ARTE, the Nordic broadcasters and Greece. I'll look forward to seeing the reaction to the series from European audiences.
If you've seen the series in the UK or Australia, I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts.
