Snow: Thank god for Drudge
Friday, 29 Feb 2008 15:50
Channel 4 broadcaster Jon Snow has provoked controversy by describing the media black-out on Prince Harry's deployment to Afghanistan as a "conspiracy of silence".
Leading British editors voluntarily agreed with the Ministry of Defence not to report Prince Harry's service in Afghanistan to prevent him becoming a Taliban target.
The news, however, went public yesterday after the US-based Drudge Report confirmed the third-in-line to the throne was serving in Helmand Province.
Mr Snow said the blog had broken the "best kept editorial secret of recent times".
The broadcaster – who admitted his own news team were aware of Prince Harry's deployment - voiced concerns about the media's willingness to censor the story.
He said it raised the questions whether readers would ever trust the media again, as well as what else editors would be prepared to not report.
"I never thought I'd find myself saying thank god for Drudge," Mr Snow wrote in his blog.
He also questioned what extra lengths British soldiers had been expected to go to, in order to protect the prince from getting shot while in Afghanistan.