Did we make it up?
- 5 Apr 07, 02:59 PM
The Times has run a Newsnight's report on Romanian immigrants in Britain was "a set-up". The acting Romanian ambassador complained about pictures which showed one immigrant at a makeshift camp in London's Hyde Park. "It's clear they stage-managed the whole thing... we feel they have resumed the stereotyped coverage of Romanians," she said.
Did we?
Here is some evidence which we didn't include in the original report. When we first met Daniel, the subject of the film, at a Romanian church in London we simply asked him what it was like to live in London. He volunteered that he, and others, had been camping in Hyde Park. Here's the clip.
Daniel offered to show us where he had been living. These are the rushes of what we found when we got to the park. It's pretty clear there is quite a large encampment where a number of people have been living.
When other media checked out the story after our original report they discovered other campers.
, who said he had been camping in the park for weeks: "It is a great place to sleep. You can come here at night and there are no police or wardens to stop you."
Did we pay Daniel to make his claims and pitch his tent? No. We gave him a small facility fee, which is what we offer anyone who contributes to Newsnight. Did we mislead our audience by suggesting that Daniel is still living rough? No. The report made it clear that Daniel had subsequently found accommodation and is looking for a job.
Our report was not a set-up or a fabrication. It showed the truth of how some Romanian immigrants have been living since arriving in Britain.
Peter Barron is editor of Newsnight
