To wail that investigative journalism isn’t what it used to be is fatuous. Teamwork across frontiers now repeatedly lifts the lid on scandals – at HSBC, over doping in sport and much more. But what of that contentious branch of the investigative arts: the sting. Or, as Sam Allardyce might say, “entrapment”?
You can’t ethically use hidden cameras or reporters in phoney roles unless public interest chips in. So followers of the Ipso code might think Allardyce’s ideas on FA transfer rules showed “serious impropriety”. Adherents to the Impress code would find a revelation of “unethical behaviour that affects the public” solid enough. But the easiest test is to ask how you’d feel if the story couldn’t be printed. The Telegraph’s “Liberals not so keen on coalition Conservative partners shock” was condemned. But “Allardyce offered £400,000 moonlighting gig”? Open and shut case.