Happy days

Being quoted in a Higher Modern Studies paper (see previous post) is not the first time I have qualified as a footnote in the Scottish education syllabus.

In 1979 I was sued for defamation. I was co-editor of a student newspaper at Aberdeen University and was one of two principal defendants, the other being my fellow editor.

The matter was settled out of court (in the plaintiff’s favour) but a year or two later a friend who was studying law at Edinburgh told me it had been mentioned as a case study because defamation cases in Scotland were quite rare at the time (and perhaps still are).

Initially there were six defendants listed on the writ, one of whom was Nicky Campbell. If the name sounds familiar it's because Nicky is now a well-known TV and radio presenter. Back then however he was a student in his first year at Aberdeen.

I was in my third year and together with my co-editor we were publishing an independent student newspaper inspired by Private Eye.

Having lost most of the original editorial team over the summer we advertised for replacements and four people, including Nicky, attended a ‘recruitment’ meeting that, if I remember, took place in a dark and rather dingy student union bar.

Several drinks later we ‘hired’ all four - hence the six defendants on the subsequent writ - but since none of them was responsible for any of the (alleged) defamatory comments/stories they were absolved of all blame and were not involved in the settlement. (Let me make that absolutely clear!)

In truth I never got to know Nicky because after our brush with the law he stepped back from the paper and it was more than two decades before our paths passed again.

Nevertheless I’ve followed his broadcasting career with interest and occasionally we've spoken on Five Live, which always feels a bit surreal.

Ten years ago he also interviewed guests at a Forest event at the Cavern Club in Liverpool during a Labour Party conference. That felt a bit weird too.

Another member of the gang of four who joined our editorial team in the autumn of 1978 was Fiona Duff. Niece of former Liberal leader David Steel, Fiona went on to enjoy a long and successful career in public relations.

Given the defamation case and one or two other controversies I was surprised but pleased when she mentioned the paper in a 2013 magazine feature called 'My Big Break'.

Asked, ‘When did working in the media first start becoming an ambition?’, she replied:

I think I had always been interested in the media; getting involved with school then student publications.

At Aberdeen University, during my first year, I joined the editorial team of the underground paper, Campus, along with three other freshers (including Nicky Campbell and Allan Robb who both went on to work for BBC Radio 5 Live).

Our first edition resulted in a writ, for defamation, which was soon enough dropped, I think following an apology. While the others left, I carried on writing and helping put the paper together – quite literally, as we would cut features out and glue them onto A3 sheets.

What she didn't mention is that we usually did our 'cut 'n' pasting' in the early hours of the morning on little or no sleep but lots of coffee (or caffeine tablets).

I remember too that the first issue after the defamation action had been settled had to be substantially re-written overnight with all references to the plaintiff hurriedly removed – apart from the apology!

Happy days.

See My Big Break: Fiona Duff (All Media Scotland).