Media Investigations

We know from our own experience that it is very difficult to get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from even the most intensive journalistic investigation. Compared to the resources available to Public Inquiries, journalism is necessarily constrained by privacy laws and commercial budgets and timescales.

Some errors and omissions are inevitable but we cannot think of a public scandal that has been unearthed by any other means. The courage of the victims and the tenacity of the journalists have both brought about the improvements we've seen so far and driven the demand for further action.

Andrew Graystone is a journalist and theologian who first uncovered the John Smyth / Iwerne / Titus Trust story.

Channel 4 and BBC Panorama & File on Four stand out in the area of safeguarding documentaries, and the church is a safer place thanks to their work. Unfortunately, the BBC limits distribution of archived material and no longer updates its YouTube channel so, for example, the 2019 Panorama investigation of church safeguarding is no longer available.

The videos linked below contain detailed descriptions of both appalling abuse and its devastating outcomes. Please use discretion in whether and when to watch, and consider having a wise friend to talk to after doing so.

Andrew Graystone

If you do a search for Andrew Graystone, you will find an eclectic collection of books articles and posts on a variety of subjects. He is an engaging author who somehow manages to portray together the absurdities, joys and horrors of life.

His story about John Smyth is told in the book, Bleeding for Jesus. Note that the link is to a recently updated version and is the cheapest option we found online (even cheaper than Amazon in case you were tempted to further fund Donald Trump's ballroom!)

Channel 4

Starting in 2017 Cathy Newman has presented a series of Channel 4 documentaries on abuse in the Church of England. Most relate to John Smyth, the subject of the Makin report, which led to the resignation of Archbishop Justin Welby.

The links here go to the YouTube videos available at the time of writing. A Google search will bring up multiple shorter items from the same team.

The John Smyth story

Inside Church Of England’s Biggest Abuse Scandal

My Dad Was A Prolific Abuser In The Church

Church scandal: Man behind cover-up was abuser - the role of another abuser, David Fletcher, in the cover-up of the Smyth story

The Father Alan Griffin story

Father Alan took his own life after being named in a discredited dossier submitted by a church employee later jailed for financial crimes. There are aspects of the report - and particularly the church's responses - that are maybe worth a separate blog.

Scandal surrounds incoming Archbishop of Canterbury over handling of secret dossier

BBC

We should declare that we have assisted with and appeared in Panorama and other BBC documentaries on various subjects.

Here are a few news and other items, chosen for their relevance to our proposal, amongst many currently available on the BBC website, for which you will need to register:

Archbishop of York to face no action over sexual abuse case The troubling account of the management of a known abuser and the mutual investigations by bishops of each other's actions.

A preacher asked me out. When I turned her down, the stalking began A stalking case that was mishandled by church and police.

Church admits failure over sisters' 'sadistic' abuse A 2025 report on historic abuse dating back decades, and a subsequent 30 years of failure by church and police.

Church drops complaint about new archbishop's handling of abuse case a recent (January 2026) report of one archbishop exonerating the archbishop who recently exonerated him.

Exposed: The Church's Darkest Secret Episode 1 and Episode 2 This is a copy put on YouTube of the now otherwise unavailable BBC documentary on the Peter Ball case.

Why does the Church of England struggle to deal with child abuse allegations? A case spanning 15 years that illustrates not only the failings of our Safeguarding systems but also the complexities of cases where the police decide that no crime has been committed but where victims are still seeking justice.