Emily Maitlis has shared insights into the challenges she faced maintaining impartiality while reporting the Grenfell Tower fire for the BBC, during a recent episode of The News Agents podcast.
The broadcaster discussed the difficulty of balancing her reporting as the tragedy unfolded, particularly when engaging with residents who felt their warnings about the building’s safety had been ignored. “This is a resident telling me that warnings were ignored in front of a building that’s still on fire,” Maitlis recounted, highlighting the emotional and ethical complexities journalists often navigate in such situations.
The reflection comes at a critical time as the government digests the findings from the seven-year inquiry into the 2017 disaster, which resulted in the deaths of 72 people. The inquiry, led by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, concluded that these deaths were avoidable and attributed them to “decades of failure” by the government, regulatory bodies, and the building industry. It also castigated the “systematic dishonesty” of companies like Arconic, Kingspan, and Celotex, which supplied the flammable cladding and insulation.
Following the inquiry’s damning conclusions, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is slated to address the next steps the government intends to take. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has already issued a state apology and assured that the government will review all 58 recommendations from the inquiry “in detail.” He also committed to responding fully within six months and providing regular updates to Parliament on the progress of these commitments.
Maitlis’s comments shed light on the press’s role in such national tragedies, underlining the pressures journalists face to deliver balanced yet truthful reporting in the aftermath of catastrophic events. The full discussion can be seen in the latest episode of The News Agents.
You can watch it below:
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