The cutting edge of documentary making

By Kieran Astley

Having a camera impounded by police is just one of the problems facing leading documentary maker Steve Boulton.

Being attacked by The Sun newspaper is another.

Last week the newspaper blasted Steve and Channel 4 for using an inmate at an open prison as undercover reporter.

The Dispatches programme, due to be screened next month, is likely to generate more headlines about the ethical dilemmas faced by documentary makers who go undercover to get the perfect story.

ìYou have to decide what film to use. Whether the footage is in the public interest or whether it is just a private conversation,î he said.

Steve started his career as a reporter in Liverpool and went on to become editor of World in Action, Granadaís award-winning flagship current affairs programme.

Awards

After leaving Granada he set up his own production company and has been the driving force behind a raft of Royal Television Society and British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) winning documentaries.

Young Nazi and Proud which examined neo-Nazism in Britain and the disturbing documentary ìRyanair: Caught Nappingî about the no-frills airline are among the outstanding films his company has made for Channel 4ís Dispatches.

Steve cited the Ryanair documentary as an example of the emotional problems which can beset the investigative journalist.

ìWhen you go undercover to a place like Ryanair, you end up making friends, and you like some of the people youíre working with. But eventually you have to leave, and show the film.î

Steve said the end result of an undercover investigation can be immensely rewarding by highlighting an area that needs public scrutiny. But the process itself is often dangerous for the reporter and beset with legal pitfalls.

On one occasion he was offered a set of accounts which promised detailed revelations about fraud at a Premier Division football clubís. ìThis would have been perfect evidence for the documentary. But it came with a contract to say if we read them, we would have a confidentiality agreement and could not actually use them.î

The moral. First, read the small print; especially in the Ofcom guidelines. Second, always carry out a detailed risk assessment and have a back-up plan for your reporter in the field.

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