Abstract
The celebrated show business writer looks back at his days as a crime reporter and compares it to the politically-correct, tightly controlled journalistic world of today. Writes Davis: "Is this [police] obsession with almost Stalinist secrecy a healthy situation in a democracy? I don't think so. Who guards the guardians of the law was a question that nagged at the Romans and still nags today? I like to think that those old-time crime reporters, nosing around, having whispered meets in dark corners with their police contacts, were not just getting their story but acting for the public good. It is unlikely you would ever have heard about the scandal of Michael Fagan invading the Queen's bedroom had not a reporter been tipped off by a low-ranking functionary who didn't approve of the cover-up designed to conceal the abysmal security at Buckingham Palace."
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