''Exaro'' or ''Exaro News'' was a British website based in London between 2011 and 2016. It purportedly undertook political
investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...
, but is now primarily known (together with its editor
Mark Watts) for its direct involvement in the false allegations of
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
put forward by "Nick" (
Carl Beech) in
Operation Midland.
Introduction
Launched in October 2011, ''Exaro'', under its motto "Holding Power to Account", claimed to specialise in "carrying out in-depth investigations". Its website claimed it 'set out to produce "evidence-based, open-access journalism – not spin, not churnalism, not hacking – just journalism about what should be transparent but isn't"'. ''Exaro'' was reportedly set up by
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
fund manager and
climate denier Jerome Booth.
In articles by journalist Mark Conrad, ''Exaro'' became the first publication to report claims made by
Carl Beech (under the pseudonym "Nick") that a
paedophile ring composed of powerful individuals had abused children at
Elm Guest House in
Barnes in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
MP Tom Watson (
Labour), having been passed information from ''Exaro'' journalists, raised the allegations in parliament. Police subsequently launched a scoping exercise under the name "Operation Fairbank"; later, a full-scale criminal investigation specifically addressing allegations relating to Elm Guest House was launched under the name "Operation Fernbridge". The latter investigation was subsequently closed after no evidence to support the claims was found.
False allegations of sex crimes and murder committed by the fictional paedophile ring made by Beech later became the basis for the
Metropolitan Police's
Operation Midland, a £2 million probe which closed in 2016 with no charges brought. A later inquiry found that the accused were victims of false allegations. The
Metropolitan Police Commissioner issued an apology to Beech's victims. In July 2019, Beech was convicted of charges related to his false claims and was jailed for eighteen years.
Former MP
Harvey Proctor (
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
), whose home was raided as part of the failed investigation, charged that ''Exaro'' acted as Beech's "support team". ''Exaros then-editor-in-chief,
Mark Watts, stood by the website's coverage and said they "never asserted" that Beech's claims were true,
but also called Beech's conviction 'wholly unsafe' because he did not think Beech got a fair trial after the judge had allowed jurors to hear that he had pleaded guilty to
child pornography
Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
offences in a separate trial.
Former MP
John Hemming (
Liberal Democrats), who had been falsely accused of abuse in an article by ''Exaro'' journalist
David Hencke, succeeded in a
libel
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
action against him in January 2019, resulting in Hencke and Graham Wilmer of the
Lantern Project paying over £10,000 in compensation for the false allegations. In August 2019,
Staffordshire Police confirmed that they were investigating whether Hemming's accuser, Esther Baker, had misled detectives.
Other investigations
Civil service tax avoidance
On 1 February 2012, an investigation by ''Exaro'' revealed that the UK's
Student Loans Company was paying its chief executive, Ed Lester, through a private company, enabling him to reduce his tax bill by tens of thousands of pounds. The day after the story broke the Chief Secretary of the Treasury,
Danny Alexander
Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a British former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency ...
, was summoned to 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 ...
for an urgent debate. Alexander announced a review of all civil service contracts.
Rupert Murdoch
In partnership with
Channel 4 News
''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982.
Current productions ''Channel 4 News''
''Channel 4 News'' ...
, ''Exaro'' revealed secretly recorded tapes of
News Corporation
The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...
boss
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...
talking to journalists from the News-owned ''
The Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' newspaper, in which he criticised the "incompetent cops" who handled the
''News of the World'' phone hacking case and promised to take care of any ''Sun'' journalist that had broken the law.
Military intervention in Syria
In July 2011, a
Royal United Services Institute
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi) is a defence and security think tank with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1831 by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley ...
(RUSI) expert told ''Exaro'' that the chances of a foreign military incursion into Syria to secure
chemical weapon
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as ...
s had risen to "more than 50 per cent". That same month, ''Exaro'' also reported that
hawks
Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica.
The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...
in the US government were pressing for military intervention to topple the regime of Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
.
Bribery in defence contracts
In August 2012, the
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched a criminal investigation into
bribery
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
allegations in connection with a UK-Saudi Arabian defence contract between the
EADS
Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been th ...
subsidiary GPT Special Project Management, and the
Saudi Arabian National Guard
The Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG), also known as the White Army, is one of the three major branches of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The national guard is under the administrative control of the Ministry of National ...
. ''Exaro'' persistently investigated the allegations, writing more than twenty stories over seven months before the SFO launched its criminal investigation.
Criticism
''
Private Eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...
'' magazine wrote on 18 September 2015 that "Exaro is struggling to live up to its strapline of 'holding power to account.' For several months the investigative site has published no news at all apart from the latest paedo developments and, slightly bizarrely, items on a corporate
insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
monitoring service it runs alongside its 'news.' The latter centres on the supposed 'Whitehall paedophile ring' and the lurid allegations against former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, and involves magnifying the slightest procedural development and tweeting like mad under the hashtag #VIPaedophile."
Barrister Matthew Scott, a consistent critic of ''Exaros ''
modus operandi
A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as .
Term
The term is often used in ...
'', wrote on his blog that the site "has generated a poisonous atmosphere of outrage and hysteria in which wild and immensely hurtful accusations can be made and believed on the flimsiest of evidence; and that by publicising detailed allegations of paedophile orgies and murder it has risked destroying the prospect of fair trials either for victims or defendants." A report in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' stated that the conduct of ''Exaro'' had been the subject of complaints to officials supporting the
Goddard Inquiry into child abuse.
Dame
Janet Smith called ''Exaros editors "irresponsible" following the site's publication of a leaked draft copy of
her report into
child sex abuse by Jimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English media personality and DJ. He was known for his eccentric image, charitable work, and hosting the BBC shows ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. A ...
, stating that, “Exaro’s decision appears to have been taken for its own commercial gain without any thought for the interests of the many victims of Savile or the integrity of the reporting process.”
References
{{reflist
Conspiracy theories
False allegations of sex crimes
British political blogs
British news websites
Defunct British websites
Internet properties established in 2011
Internet properties disestablished in 2016