Jason Arday’s tragic death has once again shone a light on the behaviour of the mainstream media in this country.
Data analysed by Newscord found there were 249 articles about him in the UK media - a large chunk of which came after the former Cambridge professor had resigned from his post and asked for compassion.
That level of coverage raises serious questions about where legitimate scrutiny of a figure in the news ends and something darker and more relentless begins.
The allegations against Arday were clearly newsworthy to begin with - he was a high-profile Cambridge academic who quit after facing accusations of plagiarism and making implausible claims about his life, but the sheer volume and persistence of the coverage has been shocking to see.
Watch as Zeteo UK’s Political Editor Shehab Khan asks: “Why did the coverage of this story, about the youngest black professor at Cambridge, become so obsessive?”
Shehab also asks a crucial question: will mainstream media show any self-reflection after this tragic episode?
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