Manchester Airport video is a lesson for the BBC

What follows is a tale of two video clips. Last Wednesday, the first of the two emerged on social media, appearing to show an officer from Greater Manchester Police kick a helpless young man in the head.

In a statement, GMP explained that its officers had attempted to arrest a suspect only to find themselves subject to “violent assault”, thus requiring an aggressive response. But as the backlash grew, the force changed its tone, trying to placate the growing public backlash to what was shown in the video. It admitted the footage was “truly...