Dan Johnson (born ) is an English journalist and presenter, working as the
West & South West of England correspondent for
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
.
Early life
Johnson, son of Graeme Johnson,
was born in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, Nottinghamshire, and spent his formative years in
Worsbrough
Worsbrough is a district 2 to 3 miles south of Barnsley in the Barnsley (borough), metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Before 1974, Worsbrough had its own Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district counci ...
.
He has a sister.
[Dan Johnson, ''Dad's spirit still sings in our homemade Desert Island Discs'', Sunday Times, London, 23 January 2022, page 20.] He was educated at
The Kingstone School
Kingstone School was a secondary school located in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1987, the school provided secondary education to pupils aged 11–16. It had a capacity of approximately 1,500, mak ...
and
Barnsley College
Barnsley College is a further education college just outside the town centre of Barnsley, England. It has several campuses, including the SciTech Digital Innovation Centre and The Electric Theatre. The college provides A Levels, apprenticeship ...
. Johnson studied Geography at the
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
, followed by a postgraduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism at
City, University of London
City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" an ...
.
Career in journalism
Johnson began his career with the BBC in 2008 as a journalist for
BBC Radio Sheffield
BBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC's local radio station serving South Yorkshire, north Derbyshire and North Nottinghamshire.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital television and via BBC Sounds from studios on Shoreham Street in Sheffield.
Accordi ...
, moving to television in 2011 when he joined the newsroom as a reporter for ''
BBC Look North
''BBC Look North'' is a name used by the BBC for its regional news programmes in three regions in the North of England:
* '' BBC Look North'' for the BBC North East and Cumbria region
* '' BBC Look North'' for the BBC Yorkshire region
* '' BBC L ...
''. His recent time at the BBC has been controversial. Johnson has been criticised for pursuing headline grabbing stories which are based on dubious sources. Media commentators have claimed that his research methods are impact driven, rather than evidence based. Mr. Justice Mann, in his judgement against the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, described Johnson as "capable of letting his enthusiasm for his story get the better of his complete regard for truth on occasions".
In 2022 it was announced Johnson would join
BBC West
BBC West is one of the BBC's English Regions serving Bristol, Somerset, the majority of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire and north of Dorset.
Services Television
BBC West's television service (broadcast on BBC One) consists of the flagship regio ...
as West & South West England Correspondent based in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
. In the same year he also travelled across Ukraine making a documentary called ''Locked Away: Ukraine’s Stolen Lives'' looking at the broken care system for disabled people and how it has got worse since Russia invaded.
Battle of Orgreave
In October 2012, Johnson investigated the events at the 1984
Battle of Orgreave
The Battle of Orgreave was a violent confrontation on 18 June 1984 between pickets and officers of the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and other police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, at a British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plan ...
, and the trials which arose from it, for
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
regional news and current affairs programme, ''Inside Out: Yorkshire and Lincolnshire''. The programme examined the evidence that senior officers with
South Yorkshire Police
South Yorkshire Police (SYP) is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England.
The force is led by Chief Constable Lauren Poultney. Oversight is conducted by Mayor Oliver Coppard.
History
The force was fo ...
(SYP) had conspired to co-ordinate statements to wrongly charge arrested miners with riot, an offence which at the time carried a punishment of life imprisonment. Following the broadcast, shadow home secretary
Yvette Cooper
Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician who has served as Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, Cooper has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of parliament (MP) for Po ...
told the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
that the issue needed to be investigated, and SYP referred itself to the
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.
On 8 January 2018, th ...
(IPCC). The subsequent IPCC investigation concluded that there was "evidence of excessive violence by police officers, a false narrative from police exaggerating violence by miners, perjury by officers giving evidence to prosecute the arrested men, and an apparent coverup of that perjury by senior officers."
Previously, Johnson had been the principal researcher for David Hencke and
Francis Beckett
Francis Beckett (born 12 May 1945) is an English author, journalist, biographer, playwright and contemporary historian. He has written biographies of Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. He has also written ...
's ''Marching to the Fault Line: The Miners' Strike and the Battle for Industrial Britain'' (2009).
[
]
Cliff Richard property search
In July 2014, Johnson was alerted by a source that Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
was being covertly investigated by South Yorkshire Police (SYP) over an alleged historical offence of sexual assault. On 14 July, he contacted Carrie Goodwin, SYP's communications director, and detailed the information he had received. Chief Constable David Crompton said: "We were placed in a very difficult position because of the original leak and the BBC came to us knowing everything that we knew, as far as the investigation was concerned."[
Contrary to established procedures, under which Johnson's disclosure of the leak "should have been treated as a critical incident and should have triggered a Gold Group meeting led by the Association of Chief Police Officers">Association_of_Chief_Police_Officers.html" ;"title=" meeting led by the Association of Chief Police Officers"> meeting led by the Association of Chief Police Officersunder a Chief Officer to determine the next steps", the police controversially struck a deal with Johnson and the BBC giving them exclusive access to, and insider knowledge of, the investigation.][ This led to the BBC having a news crew and helicopter in position above Richard's home in Berkshire to provide live news coverage as the police commenced a raid on the property on 14 August 2014, and extraordinary contact between Johnson and SYP's press officer. Johnson received a text alerting him that the police were "Going in now, Dan", to which he replied "Give me a shout before they take anything out, so we can get the chopper in place for a shot." The BBC later apologised for the "distress" caused to Richard by its live coverage, and in 2018 Richard was awarded £210,000 in damages against the BBC.
]
Awards
* The Guardian Student Media Awards – Runner up, Student Feature Writer of the Year 2006; Runner up, Diversity Writer of the Year 2006.
* Royal Television Society Awards (Yorkshire) – Most Promising Newcomer 2012.
*Royal Television Society Awards (Yorkshire) – Regional Factual Programme 2013; News Coverage 2013; Runner up, Journalist of the Year 2013.
* O2 Media Awards (Yorkshire and Humber) – Scoop of the Year 2013 ''Inside Out: Yorkshire and Lincolnshire'' – "The Battle of Orgreave"; Runner up, Best News Reporter 2013; Runner up, Best TV Journalist 2013.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Dan
Alumni of City, University of London
Alumni of the University of Leeds
English male journalists
Mass media people from Nottingham
BBC newsreaders and journalists
Living people
1984 births
People educated at Barnsley College
People from the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley