The crime beat is hard labour now

Abstract

The Sky News crime correspondent insists that the good old days of crime reporting are gone forever. “For years our staple diet of murder, rape and armed robbery was occasionally supplemented by terror,” he writes.” Now terror overshadows everything and I’m forever waiting for another attack, more arrests, a next court appearance or the latest trial opening. Keeping on top of all that requires contacts beyond the police… The glut of terror stories has sometimes put a strain on our relationship with police. Scotland Yard’s counter-terror chief, Peter Clarke, used a speech this year to hit out over leaks that he said were endangering lives… There’s a big difference of opinion among people I talk to: those who insist it’s vital to keep terror plot details secret to avoid prejudicing the trial and those who believe the public has a right to know, as soon as possible, what atrocities are being planned against them.”