Face to face on th “


Ruth Addicott looks at the role of the dreaded door-knock in light of changes in attitudes and digital contact


D


oor-knocking has always been an extremely difficult part of the job, but with reporters working from home and a focus on clicks rather than face-to-face contact, is it becoming a thing of the past?


Criticism of the media following the Nicola Bulley case and Manchester Arena attack saw a change of approach, with media organisations liaising with press offices and law firms following the Southport stabbings instead of contacting families directly. David Collins, northern editor of the Sunday Times, was the first journalist to interview them. He says it simplified the process and stopped the families feeling overwhelmed. “All of them said that they found their experience of the media to be really positive and the reason for that is that the journalists based in the north of England didn’t directly approach, doorstep or door-knock the families,” he says. Collins believes there has been a reset, particularly among


journalists in the north, and says there has to be a ‘really high’ public interest reason for reporters to door-knock today. “Most media organisations are extremely respectful. They will ask a family once if they want to do an interview and, if it’s a no, they’ll respect that,” he says. “The problem occurs when there are 80, 90 media


organisations and international media as well – families can quickly get overwhelmed. “I think it’s beholden on every journalist and every media


organisation to ask themselves the question: ‘Do we think that the family do want to speak?’ There are always clues – if somebody posts a big message on social media and they’re very outspoken, then that might be justification.” In 2021, reporters on Plymouth daily The Herald and its


website Plymouth Live took a similar stand, saying they would not door-knock neighbours following a shooting spree that left six people dead. So what are the benefits of door-knocking and is there a place for it in journalism today? As a former tabloid reporter, Jane Hamilton has


Door-knocking reminds you these aren’t just stories to fill space – they’re real lives ripped apart


talk about their loved one. I’ve had relatives thank me for recognising and honouring them, for making sure they weren’t just reduced to a police statement or a line in the news.” Hamilton is best known for her investigations into serial


killers Peter Tobin and Bible John. (Her book on the hunt for serial killer Peter Tobin, Hunting Shadows, was published earlier this year.) As well as numerous national exclusives, she helped to


change Scottish Government policy on multiple post mortems on victims by highlighting the tragic story of Shaun Woodburn, who was attacked after a night out in Edinburgh in 2016. Hamilton says door-knocking has given her detail and depth she could not have got from a press release. “You see the emotion, you hear the way someone speaks,


you notice the things in their home or street that tell you about their life. It gave me access to stories that other reporters missed because I was there, face to face,” she says. “Sometimes, it changed the direction of a piece entirely because what a family told me was not what the police or official line was saying. It made my stories more human and more accurate.” Christine Challand has been a freelance journalist for


25 years and works for the Daily Mail Group, News International and Mirror Group newspapers. Challand says she can only think of a couple of incidents,


“Your demeanour, your


courtesy, your confidence, your transparency are everything.” Christine Challand, freelance journalist


where people have refused to speak (one being one of Lucy Letby’s best friends, who she has called on twice). Another case that sticks in her mind was in 2021, when she knocked on the door of Alan Jackson, the brother-in-law of ‘pyjama killer’ Penny Jackson who had been convicted of killing her husband David. “There was a lot of interest in the case because


Penny was filmed by police when she was arrested saying she hoped he had died after she stabbed him with a kitchen knife and commenting on


“ I don’t think we should


automatically assume that somebody doesn’t want to speak to us. If we don’t ask them, we deny them the choice.”


had plenty of experience. “I’ve been threatened with weapons, chased down streets, even attacked,” she says. “But the moments that stay with me aren’t the dramatic ones – it’s the heartbreaking ones when you see the raw grief up close. Door-knocking reminds you these aren’t just stories to fill space – they’re real lives ripped apart. And, sometimes, being the one who shows up means you give a family a chance to


10 | theJournalist


Tony Harcup, emeritus fellow at the University of Sheffield and author of Journalism: Principles and Practice


the fact that she was still in her Marks and Spencer pjs,” says Challand, who was sent out to see several extended family members for three newspapers. “I was thinking that Alan Jackson, the brother of Penny’s murdered husband, would give me short shrift but he opened the door and said, ‘I’ve been expecting someone like you to call’. It turned the tide of the story after Penny’s


conviction because, over several cups of tea, Alan painted an entirely different story about his dead brother and said he thought he deserved to be killed and would be supporting Penny throughout her


prison term.”


Another time, Challand ended up having a chance conversation with a couple who thought that she


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24