Andrew Gilligan

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File:Andrew gilligen.jpg
Andrew Gilligan beside the Thames outside City Hall.

Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968)[1] is a British journalist and radio presenter. In 2003, he produced a report on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme in which he said a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction (the September Dossier) had been 'sexed up'.[2]

He was awarded Journalist of the Year in 2008 for his investigative reports about Ken Livingstone.[3] In 2013, he became London's Cycling Commissioner.

Early life and education

Gilligan was born in Teddington,[4] London and was educated at Grey Court School, Kingston College of Further Education and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied history[4] and was news editor of the student newspaper Varsity.[5] He was also a member of Cambridge Universities Labour Club.[6]

Career

In 1994, he joined the Cambridge Evening News,[4] then in 1995 he moved to The Sunday Telegraph where he became a specialist reporter on defence.[3][4]

In 1999, he was recruited by the editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Rod Liddle, as Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent.[4] In May 2003, Gilligan made a broadcast in which he claimed that the British Government had "sexed up" a report in order to exaggerate the WMD capabilities of Saddam Hussein.[7] Gilligan resigned from the BBC in 2004,[4] in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry, after Lord Hutton questioned the reliability of Gilligan's evidence.[8] Gilligan described the BBC collectively as the victim of a "grave injustice".[9]

Soon after leaving the BBC in early 2004, Gilligan was offered a job at The Spectator by its editor, Boris Johnson,[10] who had been a key supporter of Gilligan during the Hutton Inquiry.[11][12]

Later in 2004, Gilligan joined the London Evening Standard.[3] He was named Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2008 for his work on the London Mayoral elections, described as "relentless investigative journalism at its best".[13]

Since 2009, Gilligan has been the London editor The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph,[3] where he also has a regular blog.[14]

Gilligan was also a reporter for Channel 4's investigative programme Dispatches, covering a number of issues, including an allegedly fundamentalist Islamic group in Tower Hamlets.[15]

On 22 November 2011, Gilligan criticised the Leveson Inquiry in an appearance before the House of Lords communications committee.[16] When asked about the main threats to investigative journalism in the foreseeable future, he argued "The most important threat is official restraint, by which I mean libel and privacy law, state surveillance, and the potential threat posed by the Leveson inquiry."[17] He wrote that the public still trusted the press,[18] and in the wake of the BBC's false linking of child abuse to Lord McAlpine he suggested Lord Leveson should take note.[19] Gilligan was cited in a submission to the Leveson enquiry.[20]

In January 2013, Gilligan was appointed as the Cycling Commissioner for London by the Mayor, Boris Johnson.[21] Accusations of "cronyism" were made following the appointment as Gilligan was considered instrumental in toppling the Mayor's main rival Ken Livingstone.[22][23][24]

In March 2013, Gilligan became the host of the Sunday Politics show on LBC 97.3.[25]

Press TV controversy

Gilligan presented a fortnightly programme for Press TV, the Iranian government's English-language TV channel. Rod Liddle challenged Gilligan in July 2009 about working for an "international propaganda channel run by the Iranian government".[26] Gilligan stopped his regular show in December 2009, though he appeared twice more on the network just before the UK's May 2010 general election. Gilligan attributed his decision to leave to the politics of Iran "that was inconsistent with my opposition to Islamism. I have not worked for Press TV since."[27]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Is it really grim up north? Andrew Gilligan
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Gilligan quits BBC over Hutton row BBC
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Andrew Gilligan Telegraph blogs
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Leveson inquiry criticised by Daily Telegraph's Andrew Gilligan John Plunkett
  17. ↑ Investigative journalism: my testimony to the Lords' select committee Andrew Gilligan
  18. ↑ Trust in the press has not died Andrew Gilligan
  19. ↑ Newsnight was wrong, the BBC more so Andrew Gilligan
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ New job for Andrew Gilligan ITV
  24. ↑ Boris Johnson offers Andrew Gilligan role as cycling commissioner New Statesman
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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