Richard James Admits Metro And BuzzFeed Used CEN While Questioning Need To Disclose It

This 24 April 2015 email chain shows Richard James responding to the final CEN copy shortly before publication, saying the article “looks fantastic” but questioning whether BuzzFeed needed to spell out every publisher that had used CEN material. James writes: “When was at Metro with Tom and for the years was there after he left we used CEN. Given the fact we used them here at BuzzFeed dont think we need to announce everyone who has ever used their work do we.” The document is significant because James directly acknowledges that CEN material had been used both at Metro and inside BuzzFeed, while BuzzFeed was preparing to publish an article attacking other publishers for using CEN-supplied material. It should be read alongside earlier Richard James and BuzzFeed/CEN documents showing CEN stories in BuzzFeed’s editorial flow, because it helps document a central contradiction in the evidence chain: one of BuzzFeed UK’s senior editors knew from his own Metro experience and from BuzzFeed’s own newsroom that CEN had been a regular editorial supplier, yet the final public narrative was framed around CEN as a dubious source used by other publishers. The email is also relevant because Robert Colvile’s reply says Tom Phillips felt the disclosure needed to be explicit because it was his byline, showing that BuzzFeed internally recognised the attribution/conflict issue even as James appeared to argue against foregrounding it.

Source

Part of Central European News & Mike Leidig v BuzzFeed (US Second Circuit Libel Case) – BF Case Documents

Europe Media Published 1 May 2026 at 21:09 Source: 1 November 2016