1 year ago
75
ARTICLE AD BOX
Image source, Getty Images
The CMS committee has asked editor Victoria Newton for an "insight into the Sun's verification and decision-making processes"
By Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter
The Sun has been asked by a parliamentary committee about its editorial procedures after it published allegations about Huw Edwards.
Earlier this month, the paper published claims the BBC News presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos.
The Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee has asked the newspaper for an "insight into the Sun's verification and decision-making processes".
The committee has also asked the BBC for more details of its own review.
The Sun published the first of its allegations online on Friday 7 July, at that point referring only to an unnamed BBC presenter.
After a media frenzy which lasted several days, Edwards was named by his wife Vicky Flind, who said he had been admitted to hospital following a mental health episode.
Edwards has not yet publicly spoken himself about the allegations, and it has not yet been announced if and when he will return to his role as chief news anchor.
Huw Edwards was named by his wife as the presenter at the centre of the allegations
In a letter to The Sun editor Victoria Newton, CMS Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage said: "Our role is not to challenge individual stories or editorial decisions, but we would be grateful if you could set out the processes by which The Sun verifies any story it chooses to report, especially those where issues of privacy may be at stake."
There are still questions and unresolved details surrounding the newspaper's reporting, including why it did not publish a denial the young person has claimed, via lawyers, that they had sent to the newspaper prior to publication.
The Sun has said the story was "always squarely in the public interest".
Dame Caroline referred in her letter to "concerns that have been reported about inaccuracies, changing narratives and lack of engagement with some of the parties involved in the case of Mr Edwards".
She said the committee "would also be interested to understand what was done to verify this specific story and what, if any, reviews or discussions are ongoing about The Sun's procedures and reporting in this case and any wider lessons to be learned".
In the same letter, Dame Caroline asked Newton to set out what investigations are taking place into allegations surrounding the newspaper's former columnist Dan Wootton.
BBC News has asked the Sun for comment about Dame Caroline's letter.
Watch: Tim Davie explains why he believes that internal BBC complaints are handled properly
Last week, the BBC's director-general Tim Davie and BBC acting chair Dame Elan Closs Stephens were questioned by the Lords Communications Committee about the corporation's handling of the Edwards affair.
During that session, Mr Davie said a review of how the BBC handled complaints made against Edwards will report in the autumn.
In a separate letter to Dame Elan, Dame Caroline requested further details about the reviews into wider BBC processes the corporation is carrying out in light of the allegations, and its plans to publish the findings.
"It is important that the public are reassured that the BBC is taking appropriate actions to ensure that the red flagging process works effectively," Dame Caroline's letter said.
The committee said it welcomed the BBC's recent publication of the terms of reference for its review and an indication of the timetable.
But, the letter added, the committee would like to "understand what intentions the BBC has to make the outcomes of its two reviews public".
English (US)