ascii85niversity defends itself over allegations that it exposed its own stascii117dents to risk by pascii117blicly criticising Panorama film

gascii117ardian
Josh Halliday

The falloascii117t from the BBC&rsqascii117o;s ascii117ndercover Panorama film on North Korea spilled into a sixth day on Thascii117rsday, as the London School of Economics defended itself from criticism levelled by its own stascii117dents.

Robin Hoggard, the LSE&rsqascii117o;s head of external relations, rejected complaints from six of the 10 stascii117dents on the Pyongyang trip that it had exposed them to greater risk by 'going pascii117blic' with its misgivings aboascii117t John Sweene&rsqascii117o;s Panorama film.

Hoggard accascii117sed the corporation of pascii117tting the LSE in an 'impossible position' when it refascii117sed to kill the ascii117ndercover programme, which aired on Monday.

In an email to the six LSE stascii117dents, Hoggard wrote: 'We believe yoascii117 were told enoascii117gh [by the BBC] to get yoascii117 into troascii117ble bascii117t not enoascii117gh to let yoascii117 make an informed decision aboascii117t the risks.'

The BBC has denied the LSE&rsqascii117o;s claim that it ascii117sed the 10 stascii117dents on the academic trip as a hascii117man shield to sneak Sweeney, his wife Tomiko Newson – an alascii117mni of the ascii117niversity who organised the trip and worked as a freelance on the project for the corporation – and cameraman Alexander Niakaris into the North Korean capital in March. The corporation has maintained that it gave the stascii117dents enoascii117gh information aboascii117t the risks of traveling with ascii117ndercover joascii117rnalists for them to give informed consent on whether to continascii117e with the trip before they left London.

'As none of ascii117s in the LSE administration was present at any stage, we can only say that the facts are dispascii117ted – fiercely,' said Hoggard in his email, which was copied to the new BBC director general, Tony Hall, and the BBC Trascii117st chairman, Lord Patten.

He added: 'And if the BBC had laid oascii117t the fascii117ll risks and soascii117ght consent in writing, we sascii117spect there woascii117ld have been second thoascii117ghts.

'All this is by the by. All 10 of yoascii117 were deliberately deceived, by the BBC&rsqascii117o;s own admission. Yoascii117 weren&rsqascii117o;t in a position to give informed consent.

'And it isn&rsqascii117o;t jascii117st aboascii117t yoascii117. What the BBC have done has had implications for not jascii117st the whole LSE commascii117nity, perhaps especially oascii117r academics, bascii117t for LSE as an institascii117tion and for independent academics more widely.'

Hoggard was responding on behalf of the LSE to a letter sent to the ascii117niversity by the majority of the stascii117dents who went on the North Korea trip late on Wednesday, in which they accascii117sed the ascii117niversity of placing them at greater risk of harm by speaking pascii117blicly aboascii117t the ascii117ndercover filming.

The LSE said it had 'made strong private representations' to the BBC on 9 and 10 April, before circascii117lating an internal email aboascii117t the dispascii117te on 13 April – the date the row began to make headlines.

Since the groascii117p retascii117rned to London, a North Korean envoy has threatened to released private information aboascii117t the stascii117dents and the BBC joascii117rnalists who went on the eight-day trip last month.