On a completely different note, take another case of media correction. Last year the Al-Madinah school opened in Derby, and took advantage of the current government’s “free-schools” initiative. The policy allows parents to set up their own schools with taxpayer support. Generally a highly successful policy, it has nevertheless always been open to abuse, and the Al-Madinah school was a specialist in this regard.
In the summer, the Sunday Times revealed what actually went on at the school. It was reported that, among other things, everybody — pupils and teachers alike — whether Muslim (a majority) or not, were forced by the school to wear ultra-conservative Islamic dress. Other rules also enforced the most hardline Islamic rules, including a ban on bringing any products that were not halal [permitted by Islamic Sharia law] onto the premises, in what was, after all, a state-funded school. These revelations, and more, were immediately picked up by other media outlets, created a national outrage and caused government inspectors to be sent in early. After several rounds of inspections, temporary closures and more, the news emerged that the school’s leadership has been forced out and the institution has now been taken over.
Both of these cases — the “Crystal Methodist” and the Al-Madinah school — obviously relate to very different places. But most other parts of the state, and indeed civil society, had failed to root out two very different, but scandalous, problems that directly affected taxpayers and citizens. It took the free press in all its mucky glory to expose these problems and for something to be done about them.
Will a free press go wrong on occasions? Certainly — and where it breaks the law it must be punished. But in the eagerness to punish an entire profession, Britain’s lawmakers and others have forgotten one of the most important lessons of all: that a genuinely free press is not just one of our best protections against despotism, it is one of the only tools we have to root out corruption. One can understand why some people may be opposed to it. But long may it remain free.