BBC apologises to university for North Korea undercover trip ‘using students as human shields’
The BBC apologised on Monday to a leading British university for sending two undercover reporters to accompany an academic trip to North Korea, after an internal investigation found that it had failed to inform students of the potential risks.
The publicly funded BBC joined the trip to North Korea for students and post-graduates of the London School of Economics (LSE) in March last year.
Two undercover journalists - including the respected reporter John Sweeney - attached themselves to the group to gain access to the secretive state and film a documentary for Panorama, a current affairs programme.
The general secretary of the LSE’s student union accused the BBC at the time of using the students as “human shields”.
This was a serious failing
The university said the students had been told “a journalist” would accompany them, but it had not been made clear the BBC’s aim was to use the visit to secretly record footage for Panorama, a current affairs programme.