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Dispatches (TV programme)

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Dispatches is a British current affairs documentary programme on Channel 4, first broadcast on 30 October 1987. The programme covers British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, and often involves a spy who infiltrates organisations under journalistic investigation.

Dispatches
Presented byVarious
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes843[1]
Production
Running time30–60 minutes
(including adverts)
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
Release30 October 1987 (1987-10-30) –
present

Awards

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British Academy Television Awards

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The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955.

Year Category Nominee Result Ref.
1992 Best Factual Series Dispatches Nominated
1996 Nominated [2]
1999 Best News and Current Affairs Journalism David Monaghan, Deborah Davies, Graham Hall (for "Inside the Animal Liberation Front") Nominated
2002 Best Current Affairs Beneath the Veil Nominated
2006 Eamonn Matthews, Kevin Sim (for "Beslan") Won
Samir Shah, Dimitri Collingridge, James Brabazon (for "Iraq – The Reckoning") Nominated
2008 Jezza Neumann, Sky Zeh, Brian Woods, Kate Blewett (for "China's Stolen Children") Won [3]
Sean Langan, Julia Barron, Denman Rooke (for "Fighting the Taliban") Nominated
2009 Mags Gavan, Joost Van Der Valk, Alice Keens-Soper, Paul Woolwich (for "Saving Africa's Witch Children") Won [4]
Kate Blewett, Deborah Shipley, Brian Woods (for "Mum Loves Drugs, Not Me") Nominated
2010 Dan Reed, Eamonn Matthews (for "Terror in Mumbai") Won [5]
Najibullah Quraishi, Jamie Doran, John Moffat, Paul Woolwich (for "Afghanistan – Behind Enemy Lines") Nominated
2011 Deborah Shipley, Brian Woods, Xoliswa Sithole (for "Lost Girls of South Africa") Nominated [6]
2014 Chris Swayne, Eamonn Matthews, Olly Lambert (for "Syria – Across the Lines") Won [7]
David Henshaw, James Jones, Todd Downing (for "North Korea: Life Inside the Secret State") Nominated
Anna Hall, Matt Pinder, Paddy Garrick, Tazeen Ahmad (for "The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs") Nominated
2015 Marcel Mettelsiefen, Anthony Wonke, Stephen Ellis, Chris Shaw (for "Children on the Frontline") Won [8]
2016 Edward Watts, Evan Williams, Sam Collyns, George Waldrum (for "Escape from ISIS") Nominated [9]
2018 Sara Afshar, Nicola Cutcher, Callum Macrae (for "Syria's Disappeared: The Case Against Assad") Nominated
2019 Evan Williams, Patrick Wells, Eve Lucas, Dan Edge (for "Myanmar's Killing Fields") Won [10]
2020 "Growing Up Poor: Britain's Breadline Kids" Nominated [11]
2021 Robin Barnwell, Gesbeen Mohammad, Guy Creasey, David Henshaw, Evan Williams (for "The Battle for Hong Kong") Nominated [12]

British Academy Television Craft Awards

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The British Academy Television Craft Awards are accolades presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, established in 2000 as a way to spotlight technical achievements.

Year Category Nominee Result Ref.
2008 Best Breakthrough Talent Jezza Neumann (for "China's Stolen Children") Won [13]
Best Photography: Factual Nominated
Best Director: Factual Won
Best Editing: Factual Jezza Neumann, Brian Woods, Reg Clarke (for "China's Stolen Children") Nominated
2010 Best Director: Factual Dan Reed (for "Terror in Mumbai") Nominated [14]
Nick Read (for "The Slumdog Children of Mumbai") Nominated
Best Photography: Factual Nominated
Best Editing: Factual Jay Taylor (for "The Slumdog Children of Mumbai") Nominated
2011 Best Director: Factual Dan Reed (for "The Battle for Haiti") Won [15]
Best Editing: Factual Peter Haddon (for "The Battle for Haiti") Nominated
2014 Best Photography: Factual Olly Lambert (for "Syria: Across the Lines") Nominated [16]
2015 Best Breakthrough Talent Marcel Mettelsiefen (for "Children on the Frontline") Nominated [17]
Best Photography: Factual Won
2016 Ben Steele (for "The Children Who Beat Ebola") Nominated [18]
2018 Olivier Sarbil (for "The Fight for Mosul") Nominated [19]

RTS Awards

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The Royal Television Society Awards are the gold standard of achievement in the television community. Each year six awards recognise excellence across the entire range of programme making and broadcasting skills.

Year Category Nominee Result Ref.
1997 Current Affairs - Home Dispatches: Secrets of the Gaul Won [20]
1998 Dispatches: Inside the ALF Won [21]
1999 Current Affairs - International Dispatches: Prime Suspects Won [22]
2001 Dispatches: Beneath The Veil Won [23]
2007 China's Stolen Children – Dispatches Special Won [24]

Notable episodes

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Young, Nazi and Proud

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This episode, produced in the UK by David Modell, covers the youth wing of the British National Party (BNP). It was originally broadcast on 4 November 2002 as the eighth episode of the sixteenth season. The documentary won a BAFTA award in the 'Best Current Affairs' category.[25]

The programme focuses on then-chairman of Young BNP, Mark Collett. Interviews highlighted the ideological background of Collett, particularly his sympathetic stance towards the policies of Nazism and Adolf Hitler.

MMR: What They Didn't Tell you

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Broadcast on 18 November 2004, MMR: What they didn't tell you featured an investigation by Sunday Times journalist Brian Deer into the campaign against the MMR vaccine by British surgeon Andrew Wakefield. Among a string of allegations, Deer revealed that, when Wakefield claimed a possible link between the vaccine and autism, his own lab had produced secret results which contradicted his claims, and he had registered patent claims on his own single measles vaccine.[26]

Following the programme, Wakefield, funded by the Medical Protection Society sued Channel 4, The Sunday Times, and Deer personally for libel, but sought to have his lawsuit stayed by the court, so that he did not need to pursue it. The case became high-profile when Channel 4 obtained a court order compelling Wakefield to continue with his lawsuit or abandon it. During two years of litigation, three High Court judgments were obtained against Wakefield from Mr Justice David Eady, including an order that the General Medical Council was required to supply materials from its own investigations to defendants facing libel actions from doctors.[27] In his first judgment,[28] Eady said:

I am quite satisfied, therefore, that the Claimant wished to extract whatever advantage he could from the existence of the proceedings while not wishing to progress them or to give the Defendants an opportunity of meeting the claims.

In pleadings submitted to the court, Channel 4 spelt out what they said the programme had alleged. It said that Wakefield:[29]

  1. Had dishonestly and irresponsibly spread fear that the MMR vaccine might cause autism in some children, even though he knew that his own laboratory's tests dramatically contradicted his claims and he knew or ought to have known that there was absolutely no scientific basis at all for his belief that MMR should be broken up into single vaccines.
  2. In spreading such fear, also acted dishonestly and irresponsibly, by repeatedly failing to disclose conflicts of interest and/or material information, including his association with contemplated litigation against the manufacturers of MMR and his application for a patent for a vaccine for measles which, if effective, and if the MMR vaccine had been undermined and/or withdrawn on safety grounds, would have been commercially very valuable.
  3. Caused medical colleagues serious unease by carrying out research tests on vulnerable children outside the terms or in breach of the permission given by an ethics committee, in particular by subjecting those children to highly invasive and sometimes distressing clinical procedures and thereby abusing them.
  4. Has been unremittingly evasive and dishonest in an effort to cover up his wrongdoing.

In January 2007, Wakefield discontinued[30] his claim and paid Channel 4's and Deer's costs.[31][32]

Undercover Mosque

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Main article: Undercover Mosque

Undercover Mosque was first aired on 15 January 2007. The film attracted the attention of West Midlands Police due to the content of the released footage. The documentary presents film footage gathered from 12 months of secret investigation into mosques throughout Britain. The police attempted to determine if criminal offences had been committed by those teaching or preaching at the mosques and other establishments. They presented their evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service who advised that "a realistic prospect of a conviction was unlikely".[33][34] This was disputed by Bethan David of the Crown Prosecution Services, who note that editing of speeches and a lack of interviewees could have introduced bias. Consequently, the matter was referred to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom.[35]

The resulting complaints were rejected by Ofcom on 19 November 2007, who found that Channel 4 had "accurately represented the material it gathered", and rejected further complaints from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Cultural Centre, and from the London Central Mosque.[33] The documentary makers, along with Channel 4, sued the CPS and West Midlands Police for libel.[36] The National Secular Society called for a public enquiry into the role of the West Midlands Police and the CPS in referring the matter to Ofcom in the first place.[37]

Undercover Mosque: The Return

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Main article: Undercover Mosque: The Return

This programme is a sequel to Undercover Mosque. The programme uses footage filmed by undercover reporters in UK Mosques and Islamic institutions as well as interviews with Muslim academics and prominent figures.

One of the people quoted in the programme was Khalid Yasin. His videos were found to be on sale in the Regent's Park mosque bookshop espousing "extremist" views such as public beheadings, amputations, lashings and crucifixions. He is quoted in the programme as saying: "and then people can see, people without hands, people can see in public heads rolling down the street, people can see in public people got their hands and feet from opposite sides chopped off and they see them crucified, they see people get punished they see people put up against the pole? ... and because they see it, it acts as a deterrent for them because they say I don't want that to happen to me." He published a response to a letter from the producer of the programme calling them "hypocritical and exploitative bigots, [you are] audacious liars and opportunistic media vermin" and "unethical [and] merchants of journalistic vomit".[38][user-generated source]

Saving Africa's Witch Children

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Main article: Saving Africa's Witch Children

This programme first aired 12 November 2008 and told the story of young children who had been labeled witches and wizards by their family and community and left abandoned, tortured, imprisoned or killed in the Akwa Ibom in Nigeria. The programme followed Sam Itauma, a Nigerian who started a school for the abandoned children called CRARN (Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network) and Englishman Gary Foxcroft[39] who started the charity,[40] to support the school. The programme suggests that the problem is caused by a combination of African traditional beliefs and extreme Christian Pentecostal groups. In particular the programme singles out Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries for producing a film called "End of the Wicked" which the charity workers blame for the increase in children being abandoned by their families.

Undercover Teacher

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Main article: Undercover Teacher

Broadcast in 2005, this episode was about a qualified science teacher, Alex Dolan, who went undercover in schools in Leeds and London to expose the "appalling teaching". One school in particular, Highbury Grove School, was shocked and angry at the programme's methods.[41] Head-teacher Truda White said in an interview with the Guardian:[41]

The values and beliefs we promote at this school are centred on honesty, integrity and generosity. I will have a hard job explaining to the children that all of these were disregarded by one of their teachers, whether she was temporary or not. We are an open school with nothing to hide and all of us feel betrayed by a fellow colleague who came among us and threw our trust in her back in our faces.

Following the broadcast, Dolan was found guilty of misconduct by the General Teaching Council.[42]

Ryanair Caught Napping

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Broadcast on 13 February 2006, this episode saw two undercover reporters obtain jobs as cabin crew, based at Ryanair's operations at London Stansted Airport, and spend 5 months secretly recording the training programme and cabin crew procedures. The documentary criticised Ryanair's training policies, security procedures and aircraft hygiene, and highlighted poor staff morale. It claims to have filmed Ryanair cabin crew sleeping on the job; using aftershave to cover the smell of vomit in the aisle, rather than cleaning it up; ignoring warning alerts on the emergency slide; encouraging staff to falsify references for airport security passes; asking staff not to recheck passengers' passports before they board flights; and a captain of the airline saying that he would lose his job (or get demoted) if he allowed the cabin crew to serve complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and snacks to passengers, during a 3-hour delay in Spain. Staff in training were allegedly falsely told that any Boeing 737-200 (now no longer in service with Ryanair) impact would result in the death of the passenger sitting in seat 1A and that they should not pass this information on to the passenger.[43]

Ryanair denied the allegations[44] and published its correspondence with Dispatches on its website.[45] It also alleged that the programme was misleading and that promotional materials, in particular a photograph of a stewardess sleeping, had been faked by Dispatches.[46]

Gaza: The Killing Zone

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This episode, broadcast in May 2003, follows five weeks in the lives of those living in the Gaza Strip. Beginning two days after the killing of Rachel Corrie, an American member of the International Solidarity Movement, by an IDF bulldozer, the film includes footage of the aftermath of an Israeli flechette attack in a densely populated area and documents the deaths of Tom Hurndall, a British ISM activist, and James Miller, the Channel 4 cameraman who was shot as he filmed Israeli troops bulldozing Palestinian homes.[47]

Inside Britain's Israel Lobby

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Broadcast on 16 November 2009, this episode investigated what was argued to be "one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain", the Israel lobby, and in particular the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI).The documentary claimed that donations to the Conservative Party "from all CFI members and their businesses add up to well over £10m over the last eight years". CFI disputed this figure and called the film "deeply flawed", saying that they had only donated £30,000 between 2004 and 2009, but accepting that members of the group had undoubtedly made their own donations to the party.[48]

Dispatches also covered the Israel lobby's alleged influence on the BBC and other British media and further claimed that many media outlets were frightened of broaching the lobby. The Conservative MP Michael Mates said: "The pro-Israel lobby ... is the most powerful political lobby. There's nothing to touch them."[48]

Ofcom received 50 complaints about the programme but cleared it of breaching broadcasting rules.[49]

How Councils Blow Your Millions

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Reporter Antony Barnett uncovers unknown deals between cash-strapped councils and banks that are costing taxpayers millions of pounds a year[50]

Broadcast on 6 July 2015, this episode investigated the use of long term lender option borrower option loans by UK councils, provided by banks. The programme unearthed upfront profits made by the banks and high interest rates, with research from Debt Resistance UK.[51]

The Truth about Traveller Crime

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In April 2020, an episode focussing on crime in the Romanichal (English Traveller) community was broadcast.[52] In the programme, Conservative MP Andrew Selous compared Travellers to the Taliban.[53] In May 2020, Jeanette McCormick, the national police GRT lead, stated that there was no substance to the programme's central point that there is a link between higher crime and the presence of Traveller sites.[54] The programme was described by Friends, Families and Travellers, a GRT advocacy group, as misleading and encouraging hatred against Travellers.[52] Ofcom received over 7000 complaints about the programme, which it took 503 days to investigate, before finding no breaches of its code.[52] In the month following the programme's broadcast, there was a spike in hate crimes towards Travellers, with the number of reports to Report Racism GRT almost trebling.[55]

Russell Brand: In Plain Sight

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In September 2023, comedian and actor Russell Brand was accused by one woman of rape and by three others of sexual assaults, and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013 in a story published by the Sunday Times following an investigation alongside the programme. Brand released a video denying "serious criminal allegations".[56] This episode aired on 16 September 2023.


‘’ Unknown Episode ‘’

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In October 2024 a “Dispatches Special” with no description of its content on TV guides was scheduled for Saturday 19 October before being cancelled shortly before it was shown. It was then rescheduled to Saturday 26 October before being rescheduled a second time to Saturday 2 November. This led many to speculate about the idea of a scandal secretly rising with lawyers of people in the programme trying to prevent it from being broadcast.

Web-exclusive broadcasts

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  • War Torn - Stories of Separation[57][58]
  • I4I - Films by AJ Nakasila[59]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Collections Search - Dispatches". British Film Institute.[dead link‍]
  2. ^ "BAFTA Awards 1996". Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Bafta TV Awards 2008: The nominations". BBC News. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  4. ^ "Bafta TV Awards 2009: The winners". BBC News. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Television Awards Nominations in 2010". BAFTA. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Television Awards Nominations in 2011". BAFTA. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  7. ^ Harris, Jamie (7 April 2014). "BAFTA Television Awards 2014: This year's nominees in full". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Bafta TV awards 2015: Winners in full". BBC News. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  9. ^ "BAFTA Television Awards 2016 – winners in full". RadioTimes. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Nominations announced: Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards in 2019". www.bafta.org. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  11. ^ Kanter, Jake (31 July 2020). "BAFTA TV Awards Winners: Night Of Surprises, As 'Chernobyl' & 'The End Of The F***ing World' Take Two Prizes Each". Deadline. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  12. ^ "BAFTA TV 2021: Nominations for the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards". www.bafta.org. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Television Craft - 2008". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Television Craft - 2010". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  15. ^ "British Academy Television Craft Awards Winners Announced". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). 8 May 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Peaky Blinders leads Bafta TV Craft Award nominations". BBC News. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Television Craft - 2015". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Television Craft - 2016". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Nominations Announced for the British Academy Television Craft Awards in 2018". Bafta. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Television Journalism Awards 1997". Royal Television Society. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  21. ^ "Television Journalism Awards 1998". Royal Television Society. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  22. ^ "Television Journalism Awards 1999". Royal Television Society. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  23. ^ "Television Journalism Awards 2001". Royal Television Society. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  24. ^ "Television Journalism Awards 2007". Royal Television Society. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  25. ^ "BAFTA Awards Search". Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Brian Deer: the Wakefield factor". Brian Deer. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  27. ^ "Judgment, Mr Justice Eady, 21 December 2006". Brian Deer. 21 December 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  28. ^ "Judgment, Mr Justice Eady, 4 November 2005". Brian Deer. 4 November 2005. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  29. ^ "Meaning of a programme: What Channel 4's Dispatches said about MMR scare doctor". Brian Deer. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  30. ^ "Wakefield drops libel claim over Channel 4 investigation, and agrees to pay costs". Brian Deer. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  31. ^ "MMR doc drops libel case versus Channel 4". Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  32. ^ Dyer, C. (11 January 2007). "Andrew Wakefield drops libel case against Channel 4". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 334 (7584). BMJ: 60.2–60. doi:10.1136/bmj.39090.395509.DB. PMC 1767245. PMID 17218681. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  33. ^ a b "Ofcom broadcast bulletin no. 97" (PDF). Ofcom. 9 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  34. ^ "Broadcast Bulletin Issue number 97".
  35. ^ "Joint statement regarding Channel 4 Dispatches programme" (Press release). Crown Prosecution Service. 8 August 2007. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
  36. ^ "Police sued over mosque programme". BBC News. 28 February 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  37. ^ "NSS calls for public enquiry after mosque programme fiasco". National Secular Society. 16 May 2008.
  38. ^ Channel 4 VS Shaykh Khalid Yasin Archived 12 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Islamic Forum, 24 August 2008
  39. ^ "History". Stepping Stones Nigeria. Archived from the original on 24 September 2010.
  40. ^ "Pros And Cons of Having A Structured Settlement". Stepping Stones Nigeria.
  41. ^ a b Mooney, Tony (5 July 2005). "Lessons through a lens". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  42. ^ "Teacher who filmed unruly pupils found guilty of misconduct". The Guardian. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  43. ^ "Original letter from Dispatches to Ryanair" (PDF). Ryanair. 12 January 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009.
  44. ^ "Ryanair Statement for Channel 4 Dispatches Programme" (PDF). Ryanair. 9 February 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009.
  45. ^ "Ryanair & Dispatches...The Truth". Ryanair. Archived from the original on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
  46. ^ "Dispatches misleading advertisement in media" (PDF). Ryanair. 13 February 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2006.
  47. ^ "The Killing Zone". ABC. 23 June 2003. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  48. ^ a b Black, Ian (16 November 2009). "Pro-Israel lobby group bankrolling Tories, film claims". The Guardian.
  49. ^ "Ofcom's ruling on Channel 4's 'UK Israel Lobby' program: Not in Breach". OpenDemocracy. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  50. ^ "Dispatches - Episode Guide - Channel 4". 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  51. ^ "How Councils Blow Your Millions". Dispatches. 6 July 2015. Channel 4.
  52. ^ a b c "Shadow Report to the Universal Periodic Review Working Group and UN Member States: Focus Report on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities" (PDF). Families, Friends and Travellers. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  53. ^ "'Racist and traumatic' – Traveller reactions to CH4's The Truth About Traveller Crime". Travellers Times. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  54. ^ Murray, Jessica (2 May 2020). "Channel 4 Dispatches report accused of 'dehumanising' Travellers". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  55. ^ Greenfields, Margaret; Rogers, Carol. "Hate: 'As regular as rain' – A pilot research project into the psychological effects of hate crime on Gypsy, Traveller and Roma (GTR) communities" (PDF). Gyspsy and Traveller Exchange Hertfordshire. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  56. ^ "Russell Brand accused of sexual assault by four women". BBC News. BBC. 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  57. ^ "Dispatches - War Torn: Stories of Separation". channel4.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  58. ^ "Dispatches - The Making of War Torn". channel4.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  59. ^ I4I: Films by AJ Nakasila Channel 4 News Archived 8 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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