105. Dark Arts 2: Can we prevent campaigns of vilification?

It’s the Bad People finale. In this last ever episode, Julia and Sofie dig into the ethics of the media covering criminal cases.

After a press “campaign of vilification”, all charges against Christopher Jefferies were dismissed. The tabloids had incorrectly painted him as Joanna Yeates’ killer. Mr Jefferies took the newspapers responsible to court - and won. He then gave evidence during the Leveson Inquiry, the UK’s landmark investigation into wrongdoing and alleged corruption within the media.

In this episode of Bad People, criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw and comedian Sofie Hagen discuss why many of us think the media is biased against our own views because of “the hostile media effect”. They talk about the Leveson inquiry and what makes media coverage of crimes bad -- or good.

At the end, they summarise what they learned from working on Bad People for the past three and a half years.

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen Producers: Laura Northedge and Lauren Armstrong-Carter Assistant Producer: Hannah Ward Editors: Anna Lacey and Richard Collings Music: Matt Chandler Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris

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