Donal MacIntyre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the journalist. For the Victoria Cross recipient, see Donald MacIntyre.

Donal Macintyre (born 1966 in Dublin) is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in undercover operations and television exposes. He was born in Dublin in 1966 and grew up in Ireland and the United States. He has won praise for his courage, and several industry awards for journalism, but the machismo of his style has also brought some detractors, among them people whose activities he had revealed.

The risks of repeatedly going undercover have meant that MacIntyre has increasingly turned to presenting on films where his colleagues have undertaken the undercover work. He has also branched out into more traditional presenting roles, on weather phenomena and wildlife documentaries on BBC TV and five tv. He has also made a series of documentaries about leading figures in the British crime scene, Macintyre's Underworld for five tv.

MacIntyre rose to prominence with his bravura performances as an undercover journalist with ITV and the BBC. He received two RTS journalism awards for his 1996 investigations for ITV's World In Action into the links between drug dealers and the private security firms who control night-club doors. MacIntyre lived for five months in character, adopting a new name and identity to win the confidence of the criminals he wanted to film.

He was given his own series, MacIntyre Undercover on BBC One, where his exploits among a gang of football hooligans, the Chelsea Headhunters; in care homes for vulnerable people; and in the world of model agencies received widespread publicity.

In 2000, Jason Marriner, a member of the Chelsea Headhunters was sentenced to six years in prison for his part in organising a fight with supporters of a rival team, based on evidence captured by Donal MacIntyre and his team.

MacIntyre's expose of conditions inside a Kent care home resulted in the closure of one institution and the cautioning of two people for five offences of assault. The Sunday Telegraph subsequently claimed that the programme had been unfairly edited, quoting members of the Kent Police who had investigated the home in the aftermath of MacIntyre's programme. The Kent force subsequently admitted they had libelled the reporter, withdrawing their criticism and paying him costs and damages.

In 2001 the BBC was sued by the Elite model agency after a programme made about the fashion industry. The corporation capitulated, admitting that the programme had misrepresented the Elite model agency in his exposé.[1]