Why TikTok should learn from John Stapleton if it's serious about journalism

In the 80s, John Stapleton and Lynn Faulds Wood became the first onscreen couple presenting the consumer programme Watchdog on the BBC. Lynn passed away five years ago, John’s funeral was on Thursday and his death marks the end of an era.

In the 90s, I worked at the breakfast station GMTV where John presented the Newshour section of the programme with Penny Smith from 6am to 7am. When John was on holiday, I took his place on the sofa. They were big shoes to fill.

I was starting out in the business but John had already worked on Nationwide, Newsnight and Panorama as well as covering the Falklands War and the conflict in Kosovo. He was an inspiration in so many ways.

Learning his trade

I’m often asked how you go about becoming a TV presenter. My best answer is, study the career of John Stapleton. He did it the right way but the hard way. A proud northerner, John went straight from school to the Oldham Chronicle aged 17 and learned his trade knocking doors, asking questions and speaking to people.

There were no shortcuts, getting the story required shoe leather and graft. Who did what, where, when and how were the building blocks of journalism he relied upon. In the early days, that didn’t seem to be enough to open the doors to broadcasting for him.

John hadn’t gone to university which irked a BBC boss who told him he believed the corporation should only employ graduates from Oxford or Cambridge. John’s response was to work harder, to be better than anyone else. In a precarious industry, that approach ensured he was never out of work in a career lasting 45 years.

An audience of millions

In every way, he was an absolute gent. Asking advice ahead of my first 3.30am alarm call to sit in his seat, John’s top tip was to read the notes properly the night before, then have a couple of drinks to get to sleep. It wasn’t textbook guidance but it definitely worked.

In a cut-throat and competitive business, John went out of his way to help anyone and everyone. That generosity stretched beyond advice. Every Christmas he would arrive with armfuls of special gifts for the crews who shared his early morning rises. You wouldn’t be able to find anyone behind the cameras with a bad word to say about him.

Indeed, social media has been awash this week with tributes from people who loved working with him or who are where they are today because of him.

His death feels like the end of something. Ten million people used to watch his journalism back in the day. With audiences fragmenting, that reach no longer exists.

Instead we have the rise of alternative sources of information. According to Ofcom, TikTok is now the favourite source of news for those aged 12 to 15, followed by YouTube and Instagram.

What is on offer is slick and accessible but that doesn’t make it accurate and honest. If TikTok really wants to get a reputation for journalism, they should launch a John Stapleton Memorial Award for Integrity. That would be a worthy tribute to the man.