INQUIRER Top 5 Stories That Never Ran

29 Feb 2008 | 17:19 GMT

By Martin Veitch

NEWS BROADCASTER Jon Snow would appear to be in the soup for his praise of the Drudge Report and its story about Prince Harry.

Of course there are plenty of reasons why stories never run here at The INQUIRER. Laziness and incompetence are often involved, closely followed by libel laws, and only rarely risk to royal security.

And since this is my last day at The INQUIRER [I thought you said yesterday was your last day? Never heard of leap years? - Ed] it’s probably timely to list my Top 5 Stories That Never Ran:

5. The software exec and his love life. Of course, one hears things about prominent people in the business but gossip, as George Harrison said, is the devil’s radio. It’s none of your business what these people are up to in their private lives, and it’s none of ours either, so, while we might have heard what certain people get up to, we’re not going to tell you.

4. The big company that Microsoft tried to buy. An impeccable source told me that Microsoft tried to buy a certain company that later floated in a spectacular way. However, the information was given on the understanding that no report would appear. Most people don’t believe that journalists keep “off the record” stories private but they do. It’s a question of honour, in part, and, in bigger part, the belief that the source might come in handy in the future so it’s best not to upset him.

3. The almost fight between the off-his-face soap star and the software exec. Last year, in a central London venue, a senior executive of a fast-growing company found himself in an altercation with a well-known actor who was clearly under the influence of something more than coffee. But these stars have access to powerful lawyers, so, for fear of a prolonged and
expensive meeting with the briefs, you’re not going to hear about what ensued.

2. Channel-stuffing and other near-illegal activities. Sometimes you hear leads about borderline business behaviour but, frankly, the tedium of conducting deep research for a story that probably won’t turn out to be (a) true, or (b) that interesting, means these stories don’t often get followed up.

1. The one about shameful behaviour of journalists. Of course, not all reporters are paragons of virtue and, in certain cases, there may well be ethical merit in alerting readers to this. But, come on… µ

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