Police found Jason Arday dead yesterday afternoon, nine days after he resigned his Cambridge professorship in disgrace. The Metropolitan Police said his death “is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious.” His family strongly implied his death was a suicide. “The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason,” they wrote.
Whether or not he killed himself, what led to his tragic rise and downfall is plain for everyone to see. While the family understandably blames the people who questioned Jason Arday, responsibility for his fall from grace belongs to the people who not only failed to hold him responsible for his plagiarism and false claims but also actively denied them and attacked the people who pointed them out.
The BBC has today published an article headlined, “Analysis: Jason Arday’s death will send shockwaves through a divided academia.” Let’s hope it does. But it should also send shockwaves through the media, especially the BBC, which in March 2023 broadcast a deeply irresponsible and error-filled documentary about Arday, a clip of which can be seen above.
The hagiographic documentary remains on the BBC’s YouTube page. Information in the documentary video and in the text below it includes multiple false claims.
