The Press Gazette has upheld its own decision to nominate Murdoch hack Jack Grove for a journalism award for his hatchet-job on Black professor Jason Arday. And to do it, it has blamed Arday for triggering the media pile-on that ultimately led to Arday’s death.
Arday, apparently, only had himself to blame because he tried to defend himself legally. He has since been repeatedly exonerated of the plagiarism of which Grove and white supremacist, ‘shit-flooding‘ Israel supporter Nathan Cofnas accused him.
‘Blame the victim’
As Newscord observed, the Gazette’s decision raises serious questions about accountability, standards and scrutiny:
Press Gazette has upheld Jack Grove’s award nomination after more than 500 complaints, while suggesting Jason Arday’s decision to use lawyers helped turn the allegations against him into a media onslaught.
It closes its response with:
“As Jack Grove wrote, if his publication had not been silenced with legal threats there is a chance this might have remained a fairly niche story about potential research malpractice. Our sympathies go out to Jason Arday’s family.”
If that paragraph makes you uneasy, we understand why. Press Gazette endorses an explanation that Arday’s decision to seek legal representation was part of why he faced an explosion of media coverage. It follows that explanation with condolences to his family.
Press Gazette acknowledges that Liverpool John Moores University rejected the plagiarism complaints. Yet it defends celebrating Grove’s article while saying the judges did not consider whether the wider coverage was proportionate.
It also draws attention to complaints appearing to use AI, via the dedicated NewsCord action campaign. All our complaint campaigns are editable. They give people a starting point to express their concerns, take action and seek accountability. Using a tool to submit a complaint does not make its substance less deserving of an answer.
Press Gazette says Grove acted “diligently and responsibly”. What checks did it carry out to support that conclusion?
While Arday’s name continues to be falsely smeared even in death, his smearers reap rewards – including, in the case of Nathan Cofnas, being hosted by Oxford University to expound his racism.