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Nov 24, 2019 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
#RussiaReport Thread
In 2000 I went to Chechnya undercover twice, once for the BBC, once for C4. I saw Putin's war crimes with my own eyes. Three Russians - Anna Politkovskaya, Natasha Estemirova and Boris Nemtsov - warned me over the years about Putin.

They were shot.

1/
In '14 I reported for @bbcpanorama on MH17. 10 Britons were among 298 dead. I challenged Putin in person. Last yr while making "Taking On Putin" Kremlin media accused me of desecrating a shrine to Nemtsov. While being hunted by Moscow police we sought sanctuary at BBC Moscow. 2/
BBC Moscow boss said "leave and take your rushes with you". While we were in police station he phoned Foreign Min to let them know I had been filming without a press pass. They routinely don't give me one. My passport details went online. My fixer had to leave Russia for good. 3/
Last yr someone poisons Evgeny Lebedev's dog. The Russian-British media baron - his dad was KGB - reportedly blames Kremlin. This summer @openDemocracy reported that Boris Johnson may be a security risk coz many stays at Evgeny's palazzo in Umbria. BBC bosses were there too. 4/
On November 4th it is clear Johnson won't release #RussiaReport. That same day I write my letter to OfCom. You can read it on my Blog at johnsweeney.co.uk/?blog=blogs/ar…
It sets out six Russia-related stories that were not broadcast.

I love BBC. But our democracy is under threat. 5/

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More from @johnsweeneyroar

John Sweeney Profile picture
Apr 23, 2020
On writing: THREAD1
A friend asked for tips so here are seven. I've written four novels, 8 non-fict, inc best-selling novels Elephant Moon 200,000 copies and Cold, 60,000 + n/f Scientology:Church Of Fear 25,000.
First, plot your book in your head. You need a worm of a story.
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Some plan every chapt. I'm too lazy/like fun of not quite not knowing where we are going. Non-fiction is easier than fiction.
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Three, follow Orwell's six rules of writing: (i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
Read 7 tweets
John Sweeney Profile picture
Mar 26, 2020
#PanicDiary Science row Thread 1/4

Good piece in The Times setting out the row between Imperial - lockdown and test - and Oxford - it won't be that bad - models projecting #coronavirus path. As it is behind paywall here are last two paras that sum it up.
#PanicDiary Science row Thread 2/4

'Most researchers The Times spoke to agreed with Professor Hunter’s [bad] assessment. Or, as one put it, the Oxford team have used “very sophisticated methods for polishing a turd”.
#PanicDiary Science row Thread 3/4
'This debate will not be resolved with equations. Britain has ordered 3.5 million antibody testing kits. These will, at last, tell us who has caught coronavirus and who has not. Only then will we learn if it is safe to come out.'
Read 4 tweets
John Sweeney Profile picture
Mar 5, 2020
#Coronvirusuk thread /1 Went to Italy on business last wk for 4 days. Was 200 miles from outbreak point so was UK Cat 2 risk: carry on unless you develop symptoms. That advice changed, Cat 2 scrapped. Pre-Italy I had cold'n'cough so better safe than sorry called 111 on Mon. /1
#Coronvirusuk thread /2 Took me 52 mins to get answer. Was asked about symptoms. I told them none apart from pre-existing cough. Told a clinician would phone me back. Asked same set of qs. Then told to go to A&E main reception at St Tommy's. I cycled: no taxi, no tube. 2/
#Coronvirusuk thread /3 A&E reception packed. Bad because I, a potential case, had to stand away from ordinary sick. When I got served given a mask and told to wait outside. I was relieved to do so. @NHS should create separate #Coronvirus C test entry points asap. #FOLLOWC /3
Read 5 tweets
John Sweeney Profile picture
Feb 14, 2020
#Kamalgate Thread 1 Prompted by colleagues at BBC and others, I have written a letter to new chair of Commons Media Committee @julianknight15 raising concerns about integrity of BBC Editorial Director @bbckamal, his appointment at The BBC and his conduct before then and since. 1/
2 Questions include: What role did former Labour minister James Purnell play in Ahmed’s appointment? Ahmed was Purnell’s best man. What was Mr Ahmed’s role in Observer’s infamous front page warning of the dangers of the MMR vaccine when Mr Ahmed was news editor? 2/
3 When interviewing former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy for Panorama Ahmed failed to ask a series of tough questions that had been previously agreed with the producer? That he was, effectively, a patsy for Tesco? 3/
Read 6 tweets
John Sweeney Profile picture
Dec 15, 2019
THREAD ON JOHN WHITTINGDALE TIPPED FOR NEW CULTURE SEC
At @BBCNewsnight I broke the story for TV about how @JWhittingdale failed to register a freebie for him and his lover who so happened to be a dominatrix - a word I had trouble pronouncing right
/1
Our story was based on a brill investigation by James Cusick for @openDemocracy: opendemocracy.net/en/ourbeeb/rea…

@George_Osborne mocked Whitto at lobby bunfight, discussing Brexit models, "the Albanian model, the Norwegian model... it turns out that John Whittingdale knew them all."

/2
Whitto was toast. In spring 2016 I worked on a follow-up story about dodgy friendship between Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash and Whitto. The topline: "Culture Secretary John Whittingdale faces fresh questions tonight about his judgment in accepting £14,000 in benefits...

/3
Read 11 tweets
John Sweeney Profile picture
Nov 24, 2019
Thread
From my letter to OfCom: "It seems impossible for any reporter on the Today programme to fully investigate widely reported stories that as Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson was seen as a “security risk” because of his attendance at Mr Lebedev’s parties... 1/
"...if their editor was also a beneficiary of Mr Lebedev’s generosity. Amol Rajan as BBC Media Editor has reported on Mr Lebedev’s business affairs and he too has been a beneficiary of the oligarch’s generosity. None of this non-BBC work or benefits are for the public good."
2/
There has been no BBC response to this conflict of interest because there is, I fear, no response to make. In time OfCom and/or the Commons committees on Media and Foreign Affairs will ask questions. I look forward to it. But our PM is, it seems, under a Kremlin thumb. 3/
Read 4 tweets

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