It strikes me that the coverage of this story is now - and has been for the majority of the time - dominated by different media camps arguing their own positions.
On one side, you have The Sun (a shit rag of the highest order) who have jumped the gun somewhat in some of the manner of their reporting (implying criminality, splashing the words of what seems to be estranged parents without the confirmation of the young man, etc). They are also, like many cranks completely obsessed with the BBC and trying to discredit it, as part of a nuts culture war.
On the other side, you have the BBC (that I think is a great provider of media, by the way) and most if the rest of the media focusing on what a disgrace The Sun is in the way they broke the story.
However, that's all minor detail, in my opinion and is really media navel gazing. Such discussions should not be dominating the media.
It always has been and always will be a big news story if a 'hetrosexual' married, 60 odd year old, is attempting to meet up with/ sending money to/asking for pictures of young men (and also potentially conducting other unwise interactions with young men in and out of the work place).
There is always going to be huge interest from the general public in such stories and there is a pretty reasonable argument that reporting that is in the public interest. If anyone, including Hugh Edwards, thinks otherwise, they are deluding themselves.
Famous, powerful figure acts in sleazy and deceitful way is a news story and always will be.
Also, as an aside, I imagine that being in Edward's position over the last few days is absolutely horrible and would cause anyone to suffer from severe mental turmoil and, as a statement of fact, describing that in the statement is almost certainly an accurate description of how he feels and is suffering.
However, when he was engaging in this activity, especially as a public figure, what the fuck did he think it would be like if/when he was rumbled. Something doesn't quite sit right with me with this attempt to make the main focus of the story about the impact on his mental health, rather than 'powerful media figure caught leading double life and acting in a sleazy manner towards people a third his age'. I'm not sure other people in the same position, who are not entrenched in and friends with many in the media, would be afforded such sympathetic (or any) focusing on their mental health as an angle.
