Journalism's sacrilege

Every so often there comes a time as a disenchanted Catholic where I feel a sense of attachment to my faith, a pride perhaps. This week it came briefly when I read that a 20th century Spanish journalist, Manuel Lozano Garrido, was to be recognised by the church and beatified or blessed in June - the next step is often but not always sainthood.

Garrido was a devout reporter; he worked for an intellectual magazine during the notoriously difficult Franco leadership before going on to establish a magazine for the sick. At the age of 22 he developed a form of arthritis that atrophied his physical faculties. Before long, he was confined to a chair, and soon he lost his ability to write before his sight. Yet, his passion for honest reporting never wavered.

You would be forgiven for missing this story. It was tucked away somewhere in the midst of the sprawling Internet, as another story ab out another journalist rightly took precedence. This saga involves the former News Of The World editor, Andy Coulson. The allegations that he authorised illegal phone tapping have receded this week after an MP's select committee found no evidence to suggest that he and other senior management had known about the incidents. However, the select committees diagnosed the paper's senior management with "collective amnesia", leaving a very large, indelible and perhaps terminal question mark over their innocence.

Mr Coulson, currently the Conservative party's head of communications, has always maintained that he had no knowledge of the illegal techniques his reporters were using. An excuse lacking in imagination and hardly robust, it is difficult to believe. In the hyper-close and hyper-conversational proximity of a newsroom it is inconceivable that a story can be filed with a range of, presumably, very personal details and no accounting for them. At the very least, this would have raised one of Mr Coulson's eyebrows, even if he didn't confront the issue at the time. It is unthinkable that a reporter can work in such an underhand manner without any of their colleagues or editors having the slightest inkling. Clearly there was a dearth of joined up thinking.

The other possibility is that an era of acquiescence or tacit consent took siege at the Sunday newspaper. Such methods of information gathering are so loathed, it is highly likely that an atmosphere of mutual understanding took hold without anything actually ever being verbally permitted. A series of nods, winks, handshakes, hugs, stares, cuddles or coughs, you name it.

In an age where competition is rife and the exclusives are gold, the pressure on journalists to gather that new and unique content is at its peak. Such pressure can lead people to act in unholy, unscrupulous and inexplicable ways.

Mr Coulson's selective amnesia or disregard for honesty has damaged the reputation of an industry built on principles of fairness and accuracy as exhibited by the late Señor Garrido. It is now I consider whether I felt attachment to Garrido, the Catholic, or to Garrido the journalist.