A journalist being sued by one of the BBC’s highest paid stars says he feels it’s an attempt to intimidate and silence him.
Stephen Nolan filed a libel lawsuit against local newspaper journalist Rodney Edwards as an individual in a case that stems from two paragraphs published in The Irish News.
The broadcaster filed a statement of claim against Mr Edwards, the editor of the Fermanagh based Impartial Reporter, as an individual along with another against The Irish News, which has published multiple stories involving the BBC presenter over the last 12 months.
Mr Nolan’s wage of between £400,000 and £404,999 made him the fifth highest paid BBC presenter in the UK in 2022/23. This pay is for presenting work on Radio Ulster, 5 Live and Nolan Live on BBC Northern Ireland.
He is also a director of Third Street Studios, the company that produces programmes for the BBC. Shares in the company were transferred to an entity controlled by the bookmaker Paul McLean.
Total shareholder funds in the company were £1.9m at the end of March 2023, a drop from just over £3.9m for the 15 month period ending March 2022. This was largely due to a decrease in the amount owed to the company. Mr Nolan also repaid loans totalling just under £945,000 made by the company to himself.
Filing a libel suit against an individual writing for a publication or involved in a broadcast is unusual. Most recently, the commentator Malachi O’Doherty and writer Ruth Dudley Edwards successfully defended suits taken against them personally by Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly.
Mr O’Doherty was sued over comments linking Mr Kelly to the shooting of a prison officer during the 1983 Maze escape. He made the comments on two radio programmes, including The Nolan Show.
The BBC on Monday said it would not “be providing comment on this one”.
In a statement Mr Nolan said: “As long ago as 27 November 2023, I issued legal proceedings against the Irish News and Rodney Edwards in relation to their grossly defamatory reports of audience manipulation on my television show. I intend to progress this matter to ensure my good name is cleared. These proceedings are sub judice and I cannot comment further on your question, and I would have thought the same restriction would apply to you and the Irish News.”
Mr Edwards told us: “There is some irony in a major public figure, paid through the licence fee and who has built his career on scrutinising others, going after an individual journalist for doing his job.”
The National Union of Journalists, while not commenting on individual cases, is “gravely concerned” at individual journalists being sued. The Committee on the Administration Justice, again not referring to the case being taken against Mr Edwards personally, warned of the “chill factor” of defamation law as applied in Northern Ireland.
The claim against Mr Edwards stems from two paragraphs in a story published last August which revealed Mr Nolan sent sexually explicit images of the one-time reality television personality Stephen Bear to work colleagues.
It also cites posts on social media and a subsequent story that stated Mr Nolan sent the messages to work colleagues, not only to a single “long-term friend and peer outside of work” as he told his radio listeners.
One paragraph quoted involves Nolan Live and members of the BBC staff during the broadcasting of the television show. The second relates to the broadcaster’s influence on public debate and within the BBC.
“Our investigation into the BBC presenter’s activities was conducted with the utmost diligence, care, and adherence to the highest standards of journalistic ethics,” said Mr Edwards, who admits to feeling “intimidated” after receiving the statement of claim against himself personally.
Mr Edwards, part of a team involved in putting together a series of stories linked to Mr Nolan, said the lawsuit filed against him personally feels like an attempt to intimidate and silence him.
Mr Edwards added: “While I do feel this is an attempt to intimidate, silence and spook me, it is not going to work. I have stood up to pressure throughout my almost 20-year career and I will not be deterred by these tactics.”
The Irish News published a series of stories related to Mr Nolan, beginning in early July last year with details about his production company, Third Street Studios.
Shares in the company were transferred to an entity controlled by a leading bookmaker and, at the time, hundreds of thousands in loans to the broadcaster were outstanding. Third Street has received no commissions other than from the BBC.
These were followed by details about the sending of sexually explicit images of Bear to work colleagues and his then later claim to his listeners it was “an image” to a single person outside work.
Bear was later sentenced to 21 months in prison after sharing a sex tape without the consent of his ex-partner. A jury found him guilty of voyeurism and disclosing private, sexual photographs and films.
The Irish News also reported on a bullying and harassment claim the BBC internally investigated but which was not upheld. There were also multiple sexualised messages exchanged among The Nolan Show team, while Mr Nolan also expressed opinions about BBC colleagues, including calling Talkback presenter William Crawley a “devious c**t”.
Further stories centred on his BBC series, Jailed: Inside Maghaberry, including one involving inmate Kieran McGrandles. During the interview, Mr McGrandles appeared agitated and threatened to shoot a police officer, a doctor and a suspected sex offender. Mr McGrandles died of a suspected drug overdose days after his release from prison.
Mr Nolan’s lawsuit against Mr Edwards contains no claims disputing the reporting beyond what stemmed from the two paragraphs.
In arguably the most high profile recent libel case taken against an individual journalist, the High Court strongly ruled in favour of Mr O’Doherty as it threw out Mr Kelly’s claims against the commentator.
The Nolan Show, with Holly Hamilton presenting in place of Mr Nolan, covered the ruling, including interviewing Mr O’Doherty, a regular contributor. In a summary of the day’s programme, Ms Hamilton said the court described the case “as appearing to be part of a strategy to intimidate journalists, that is what they said”.
She further quoted the judge as stating “it was an attempt to silence bothersome journalists” and referred to the “term SLAPP”, strategic lawsuits against public participation.
Daniel Holder, of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, not commenting on any specific case, said: “There has been significant general concern across Europe at lawsuits known as ‘SLAPPs’ which aim to silence discussion on matters of public interest, whether targeting journalists, NGOs or others.
“The chill factor of defamation law and its application here has also been of general concern locally among many of the groups we work with.”
Seamus Dooley, of the National Union of Journalists, also not referring to any individual case, said: “We would always recognise the right of people to seek recourse via the defamation laws but the practice of suing individual journalists is one we would be gravely concerned about.”
He added the union would always encourage people to take the non-legal route through the regulatory authorities.
“Suing individual journalists has consequences beyond individual cases. It is something we would encourage people not to do,” Mr Dooley added.
Update: Mr Nolan later ended the legal action he was taking against The Irish News and journalist Rodney Edwards.
