5 Live Report
Encyclopedia
5 Live Report was a weekly investigative programme on BBC Radio 5 Live
. It was broadcast live at 11 a.m. on Sundays as part of the Julian Worricker
programme, and a recorded half-hour documentary was broadcast on Sundays, schedule permitting.
Most reports were produced by the BBC's Radio Current Affairs department, with a sizeable contribution by the independent company All Out Productions, and occasional productions by BBC Northern Ireland
.
The reports have been criticised by Elisabeth Mahoney of The Guardian
for sometimes feeling "too much like sensation and too little like substance".
, had been convicted of murdering babies on the basis of unreliable statistical evidence concerning multiple cot deaths in the same family. Clark was freed on appeal in 2003.
A 2002 report about prisoners on death row
in the United States
included an interview with Kenny Richey
, who had been convicted of murdering a two-year-old in an arson attack, but whose case was widely considered to be a miscarriage of justice. Richie was also later freed after a plea bargain
.
2003 reports included one on the rise of the British National Party
in Burnley
, and one on the use of illegal drugs in the workplace.
In 2004 the 5 Live Report investigated the legacy of the Bhopal disaster
20 years earlier, finding that concentrations of toxic materials in Bhopal were still up to 500 times the World Health Organisation's recommended maximum levels.
The report has also featured an interview with Saudi opposition leader Mohammad al-Massari
, who admitted to having been in contact with Osama bin Laden
and that he would do so again.
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
. It was broadcast live at 11 a.m. on Sundays as part of the Julian Worricker
Julian Worricker
Julian Worricker is a British journalist, currently working as a presenter of You and Yours on BBC Radio 4 and a relief presenter on BBC News, the corporation's 24 hour rolling news channel...
programme, and a recorded half-hour documentary was broadcast on Sundays, schedule permitting.
Most reports were produced by the BBC's Radio Current Affairs department, with a sizeable contribution by the independent company All Out Productions, and occasional productions by BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland.The organisation is one of the three national regions of the BBC, together with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales. Based at Broadcasting House, Belfast, it provides television, radio, online and interactive television content...
.
The reports have been criticised by Elisabeth Mahoney of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
for sometimes feeling "too much like sensation and too little like substance".
Notable reports
In 2001 a report uncovered evidence that there had been miscarriages of justice in many cases where parents, including Sally ClarkSally Clark
Sally Clark was a British solicitor who became the victim of an infamous miscarriage of justice when she was wrongly convicted of the murder of two of her sons in 1999...
, had been convicted of murdering babies on the basis of unreliable statistical evidence concerning multiple cot deaths in the same family. Clark was freed on appeal in 2003.
A 2002 report about prisoners on death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
included an interview with Kenny Richey
Kenny Richey
Kenneth "Kenny" Thomas Richey is a British-US dual citizen, born to a Scottish mother and American father, who was raised in Scotland but moved to Ohio, United States to join his father in late 1982....
, who had been convicted of murdering a two-year-old in an arson attack, but whose case was widely considered to be a miscarriage of justice. Richie was also later freed after a plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
.
2003 reports included one on the rise of the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
in Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
, and one on the use of illegal drugs in the workplace.
In 2004 the 5 Live Report investigated the legacy of the Bhopal disaster
Bhopal disaster
The Bhopal disaster also known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India...
20 years earlier, finding that concentrations of toxic materials in Bhopal were still up to 500 times the World Health Organisation's recommended maximum levels.
The report has also featured an interview with Saudi opposition leader Mohammad al-Massari
Mohammad al-Massari
Dr. Mohammad Al-Massari is an exiled Saudi physicist and political dissident who gained asylum in the United Kingdom in 1994. He runs the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights and is an adviser to the Islamic Human Rights Commission....
, who admitted to having been in contact with Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
and that he would do so again.