and it felt very competitive.” He got the first exclusive with the family, which he says was “a really big moment”. “It was powerful to hear them and I’m glad I managed to give them the space to do it,” he says.


Elizabeth Haigh, senior reporter for MailOnline, covered the story from London, liaising with reporters in Lancashire. “What shocked all of us was how big it became and how


quickly it spiralled,” she says. They were bombarded with videos from TikTok influencers. “We knew these weren’t reliable,” she says. “So many people


were getting their news from these sleuths turning up, never having had a day of actual investigation experience in their life. The amount of disinformation we had to wade through was way bigger than any other police case I’ve worked on, maybe with the exception of the Southport stabbings.” Part of the problem was the lack of background briefings,


which left accredited journalists being treated the same as amateur sleuths, and influencers being allowed to attend press conferences. Haigh contacted Lancashire police around 20 times and says they got back once. “They didn’t answer any questions, they never picked up the phone, they weren’t even acknowledging they had received our emails and I know every journalist working on this case faced the same struggles,” she says. ITV journalist Emma Sweeney recalls the day the search


moved downstream and reporters were left to guess. “It meant journalists and crews were left driving up and down the road that runs beside the river trying to piece things together for themselves,” she says. Hollie Bone, north west reporter for the Mirror, says it became so cloak and dagger that journalists had to work more as a pack. “People were asking, ‘Is it possible that she could have done this?’ And the police were saying, ‘Well, yes, that is a possibility, but we can’t say it actually happened,’ then the next day they were running with that news angle. I think it’s important that as journalists we take responsibility – you can’t just fabricate an angle.”


“We were extremely conscious that when the world media left, we would still be here – it was a responsibility and we all felt protective of Lancashire.” Nicola Adam, former editor, Lancashire Post and Blackpool Gazette


“I’ve never seen an ongoing investigation like that where you just get ignored. They [police] didn’t acknowledge that we existed and that silence gave this environment where speculation was allowed to fester.” Elizabeth Haigh, senior reporter, MailOnline


“To understand the complexities behind the scenes and the nature of the investigation is so essential to the principal of open justice and being able to report fairly.” Hollie Bone, north west reporter, the Mirror


Then, on February 15, the police released a statement


saying Bulley had ‘specific vulnerabilities’ due to ‘alcohol issues’ related to the menopause, prompting an outcry from politicians, including the then prime minister. Haigh says the reaction at the Mail was shock: “I remember all of us having this conversation going, ‘Why have they put that in the public domain?’ They could have told us that as background to stop speculation. The big thing for me was we almost have to write about this now because it’s in the public domain, but what about her children, friends and family?” Four days later, Bulley’s body was found in the river. An inquest found she had fallen into the river accidentally. The next day, the family released a statement criticising the press and members of the public, singling out Sky and ITV. In September 2023, journalists told a College of Policing


review they believed the statement had been ‘inspired directly by the police to deflect criticisms from themselves’ and it unfairly conflated the actions of accredited journalists and media outlets with people on social media, particularly the line that media reported false claims about Ansell. The review criticised Lancashire Constabulary for its media


strategy and revealing ‘highly sensitive’ personal information, saying it was ‘avoidable’ and ‘unnecessary’. It said accredited journalists should have been given non-reportable briefings, and that trust between the police and the media broke down. Although relations vary from force to force, reporters say


they have seen some improvement. Bone cites Merseyside Police’s handling of the Southport stabbings; she says they tried to organise off-the-record briefings. Haigh has also had police officers asking to phone to give a full overview. “That has not been something I’ve had before,” she says. Whether influencers learn from the case remains to be seen


but, for journalists, it reinforced the need for respect. “It is important to never lose sight that it is someone’s life,”


says Haigh. “Always ask yourself: ‘If this was my family, would I find this acceptable?’”


theJournalist | 23


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