Main content

Covid's back in the news

From Matt Hancock's texts to a new take on covid's origin, why journalism is reliving 2020.

The Daily Telegraph has got hold of thousands of WhatsApp messages sent by Matt Hancock when he was Health secretary during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the FBI has said it believes the most likely explanation for the origin of the pandemic is a lab leak in China. Both stories provide big questions for the business of journalism; what are the ethics of working with leaked private correspondence, and were some journalists too quick to dismiss the 'lab leak theory' when it first emerged?

Guests: Heather Brooke, freedom of information campaigner; Vivian Schiller, executive director of Aspen Digital; Paul Nuki, senior editor, Global Health Security and Campaigns at The Telegraph; Tim Caulfield, professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta; Pippa Allen-Kinros, Full Fact, and Erik Wemple, Washington Post columnist

Presenter: Ros Atkins

Producer: Helen Fitzhenry

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Wed 1 Mar 2023 21:30

Broadcasts

  • Wed 1 Mar 2023 16:30
  • Wed 1 Mar 2023 21:30

Podcast