BBC News Battle of Orgreave report — 18th June 1984

Описание: John Thorne's report for the BBC's "60 minutes" news programme, chronicling the violent events of 18th June 1984 at the Orgreave coking works near Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

The legal representatives of miners charged with riot later denounced this report. They alleged that John Thorne had reversed the order of the footage, in order to show that the miners had started the violence, whereas, they alleged, the police had. However, a comparison with Phil Roman's report for ITN reveals the truth.

There were three horse-charges by mounted police that day, all of which were shown in Phil Roman's detailed report lasting 5 minutes and 27 seconds. John Thorne's report, however, was less than half as long — just 2 minutes and 37 seconds. Accordingly, John Thorne showed only one horse-charge — the first — on the front of which he spliced the dramatic parting of police lines that preceded the third horse-charge.

John Thorne did not reverse the footage. His account, showing that the first police horse-charge had followed missile-throwing by the massed pickets, was supported by Phil Roman's account, which showed the same.