The singer sued over BBC coverage of a South Yorkshire Police raid on his home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in August 2014, following an allegation of child sexual assault.
Mr Justice Mann this month ruled in Sir Cliff’s favour following a trial in London, concluding the coverage was a very serious privacy invasion and awarded the singer £210,000 damages.
Writing in the Radio Times, the veteran news journalist said there was a time when “scoop” was a “dirty word” at the BBC and the ideal news story was “serious, significant and reassuringly dull”.
He added this is now no longer the case, writing: “I sympathise, though. Journalism is not the priesthood, even at the BBC. It’s a hard, competitive business.
“The average age of the Ten O’Clock News audience is now in the 60s. The young are too busy on Twitter talking about Love Island, and everybody has to shout louder to get heard.
“I’m pleased that the juices are still flowing at an organisation that can often look flatulent, bureaucratic and complacent.
“Great that the newsroom can still ‘go bananas’ over a ‘cracking story’ – even if it wasn’t.
“Nobody comes out of it very well. The BBC reporter got a genuine scoop, at the height of the hysteria over Jimmy Savile.
“Difficult to say it was not in the public interest or, as the law stood, that it was wrong to name a suspect before it could reasonably be expected he would…
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