Duncan Campbell (journalist)

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This article is about freelance investigative journalist. For The Guardian journalist, see Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1944). For other people, see Duncan Campbell.

Duncan Campbell
FRSA
Campbell at DeepSec In Depth Security Conference 2015
Born1952 (age 71–72)
Glasgow, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Alma mater
OccupationInvestigative journalist
Years active1975–present
Known for

Duncan Campbell

FRSA (born 1952) is a British freelance investigative journalist, author, and television producer. Since 1975, he has specialised in the subjects of intelligence and security services, defence, policing, civil liberties and, latterly, computer forensics. He was a staff writer at the New Statesman from 1978 to 1991 and associate editor (Investigations) from 1988 to 1991. He was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act in the ABC trial in 1978 and made the controversial series Secret Society for the BBC in 1987 (see Zircon affair). In 1988, he revealed the existence of the ECHELON surveillance program.[1]

Early life

Born in

independent school, he first trained in computer programming aged 16, taught computer languages, and undertook programming in scientific computer languages. He gained three S-levels in physics, chemistry, and maths, and then an open scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating in 1973 with a first-class Honours degree in physics. The following year, Campbell completed a one-year MSc in Operational Research at the University of Sussex; the course included psychology, economics, accountancy, and model building. He later told The Independent: "It was extremely useful. It was not difficult to make the grades, though they'll hate me for saying so."[3]

Early journalism

After leaving Sussex University, Campbell became a journalist on the

gay rights, civil liberties, the environment, unemployment, anti-racism, fascism, and women's rights.[citation needed][4]

He was also a regular contributor to the

Government Communications Headquarters
, a highly secretive arm of the British secret services, responsible for communications interception.

The article led to the forcible deportation of its American co-author, Hosenball.[6] Campbell, who could not be deported, was instead placed under MI5 surveillance, which included the tapping of his phones. The following year, Campbell agreed to talk with ex-signals intelligence operator, John Berry, at Berry's home. He was accompanied by fellow Time Out reporter, Crispin Aubrey. After a three-hour conversation, Special Branch arrested the three under the Official Secrets Act 1911, leading to the ABC trial.

In 1982, Campbell published War Plan UK — the Truth about Civil Defence in Britain, which revealed and discussed — often for the first time — the inadequacy and futility of the British government's preparations in the event of

nuclear war.[7]

Notable articles

In 1980, his article revealing the existence of the secret

Murray MacLehose had become a dictatorship. In his words: "Hong Kong is a dictatorship; and scarcely a benevolent one."[8]

Secret Society (1987)

The Secret Society series caused a political furore, known as the Zircon affair, in 1987. The production team behind the series was threatened with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. Campbell's front door was kicked down and his home searched, and Strathclyde Police raided the corporation's Scottish headquarters in Glasgow and seized the tapes from the offices of BBC Scotland, where the series had been made. The tapes were later returned and the series broadcast on the BBC except for episode one. The BBC decided that the first episode, about secret cabinet committees, was too sensitive to show before the 1987 general election. Labour MP Alistair Darling believed that the Thatcher government leaned on the BBC to prevent its damaging allegations from being made public.[9]

  1. The Secret Constitution: Secret Cabinet Committees - about small, secret and influential Cabinet committees.
  2. In Time Of Crisis: Government Emergency Powers - Since 1982, governments in every other NATO country have been preparing for the eventuality of war. In Britain, these preparations are kept secret. So what will happen when the balloon goes up?
  3. A Gap In Our Defences - Bungling defence manufacturers and incompetent military planners have botched every new radar system that Britain has installed since World War II. Why? And can we stop it happening again?
  4. We're All Data Now: Secret Data Banks - The Data Protection Act is supposed to protect us from abuse, but it's already out of date and full of loopholes. So what kind of abuses should we worry about?
  5. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) - ACPO Making up their own law and policy. About the Association of Chief Police Officers and how Government policy and actions are determined in the fields of law and order.
  6. Communications Zircon - About GCHQ with particular reference to a secret £500 million satellite. Reference to Zircon spy satellites which the public accounts committee were not told about.

ECHELON (1988)

After Dark in 1991

Campbell revealed in 1988, in an article titled "Somebody's listening" and published in the New Statesman, the existence of the ECHELON surveillance program.[10]

In 1999, he wrote a report on

communications intelligence entitled Interception Capabilities 2000 for the European Parliament.[11]

Child abuse images (2005 and 2007)

In 2005 and 2007, Campbell investigated and wrote criticisms of the Operation Ore child pornography prosecutions in the UK, which exposed police errors. Additionally, he "revealed how computer evidence used against 7,272 people in the UK accused of being paedophiles had been founded on falsehoods." These articles, "Operation Ore Exposed"[12] and "Sex, Lies and the Missing Videotape",[13] were both published in PC Pro magazine.

Personal life

Campbell

AIDS medicines and quack doctors.[14]

Awards

  • 1980 – Cobden Trust Award (for series of New Statesman articles on civil liberties, including an exposé on Britain's secret telephone tapping centre)[15]
  • 1983 –
    Periodical Publishers Association
    : Specialist Writer of the Year (for reports on nuclear weapons and the Prime spy case).
  • 1987 –
    What The Papers Say
    : Investigative Journalist of the Year
  • 1987 – Freedom of Information Campaign: Media Award
  • 1989 – Magazine Publishing Awards: Best Business Feature

Miscellaneous

  • Founder member, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
  • Nominated as Rector of
    Aberdeen University
    , 1981
  • Consultant on telecommunications, Technology Faculty, Open University, 1976–1982
  • Member,
    Labour Party National Executive Committee
    Study Group on Defence, 1980–1983
  • Member,
    Labour Party National Executive Committee
    Study Group on Security Services, 1979–1983
  • Chairman and director,
    Statesman and Nation Publishing Company Ltd
     (publishers of New Statesman) 1990–1994
  • Senior Research Fellow, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Washington, D.C., 1999–2000
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
  • Visiting fellow of the Media School Bournemouth University, 2002–present.

See also

References

  1. ^ Webb, D. C. "ECHELON and the NSA". Cyber Warfare and Cyber Terrorism.
  2. ^ Campbell, Duncan (3 August 2015). "Global spy system ECHELON confirmed at last – by leaked Snowden files". The Register. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. ^ The Independent (7 August 1997).
  4. ^ Morris, Brian. Anarchism and Environmental Philosophy.
  5. ^ Campbell, Duncan; Hosenball, Mark (21 May 1976). "The Eavesdroppers" (PDF). Time Out. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  6. ^ Court ruling, "R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Hosenball", [1977] 1 W.L.R. 766; [1977] 3 All E.R. 452. Lord Denning presiding judge, March 29, 1977.
  7. ISBN 0-09-150670-0
    .
  8. ^ Campbell, Duncan (12 December 1980). "Colonialism: A Secret Plan for Dictatorship". New Statesman.
  9. ^ Wilby, David. "The Zircon Affair 1986–7" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  10. ^ Campbell, Duncan (12 August 1988), "Somebody's Listening", New Statesman, archived from the original on 20 April 2013, retrieved 6 September 2013
  11. ^ Campbell, Duncan (April 1999), Interception Capabilities 2000, European Parliament, Directorate General for Research, Directorate A, The STOA Programme, retrieved 19 June 2007
  12. ^ Campbell, Duncan (1 July 2005). "Operation Ore Exposed". PC Pro. Archived from the original on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2007.
  13. ^ Campbell, Duncan (June 2007). "Sex, Lies and the Missing Videotape" (PDF). PC Pro Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  14. ^ a b "Lesbian & gay rights". Duncan Campbell's official website. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  15. ^ "Human rights | DuncanCampbell.org". www.duncancampbell.org. Retrieved 21 March 2021.

Further reading

External links
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