A BBC journalist has blasted the UK press after experiencing at first-hand the appalling way the media treats the public.

In a moving blogpost, BBC Bristol presenter John Darvall blames the fact he is in the public eye and is engaged to an MP for the awful way his family were treated by the press after a recent tragic loss in his family.

In strong language, Mr Darvall savages his own profession, saying he is “ashamed to be a journalist” and how he saw at first hand how professional journalists were unable to “get their facts right” and could not be “trusted with clear information”:

“Newspapers have contacted me and provided appallingly written articles”

He also points out the “journalistic failure” added significantly to the pain the family were going through and warns the public should now “trust nothing you read or watch” in the media:

“I write this as a journalist who loved his work but can now clearly see why so many have lost faith in his profession and traditional media. They, we and I have brought this on ourselves”

Mr Darvall asks if it is any wonder the public are turning to social media for news and information, and concludes:

“We really can’t trust the traditional outlets to do it right or properly”

Read the moving blogpost in full here: