Neil Arun didn’t want to miss a rare but risky opportunity to embed with an Iraqi police unit, hunting members of al Qaeda. But his employers -- responsible for Neil’s security -- weren’t happy. This film by Richard Pendry nvestigates how a frontline journalist balances risk and reward.
Social workers and failings in the system of caring for vulnerable children are all over the news today, emphasising exactly how and why this is such an important subject and why journalists need to know how things work and who does what.
The first story is close to home and relates to the death of a 25-day-old baby in Kent and the failings that led to the tragic killing by her violent father. The others relate to the sacking of social workers in Birmingham and the third to a story in Wales.
The common thread in these is how the system failed and the response of the various agencies who characteristically all claim that "lesons have been learned." Until, presumably, the next time.
Absolutely right, Paul. We have been "learning lessons" about the failures of social workers and their managers, and about dysfunctional relationships between social work departments, the NHS and the police, since the death of Maria Colwell in January 1973. Very little has improved and ruthless scrutiny is required to expose the repeated failures that have, repeatedly, failed to deliver effective reform. Such scrutiny demands detailed understanding as a foundation for persistent questioning.