It’s been said the first rule of journalism is never betray your source, but what if your source betrays you – for journalist Shiv Malik it led to some of the worst moments of his life.
In the wake of the 7/7 London bombings, young journalist Shiv Malik began investigating how some young British South Asian men like him had turned to terrorism. Enter Hassan Butt, a notorious Islamist spokesperson who told Shiv that he’d repented and left al-Qaeda – and wanted to encourage others to do the same.
Over the next three years, Hassan and Shiv became friends, they began working on a book together, spending hundreds of hours talking about Hassan’s early life and how he got deeper into ‘The Network’.
Shiv thought he was on the cusp of the biggest story of his life—a story that could help to change the world for the better. Little did he know that Hassan Butt would almost destroy his life when one day there was a knock on the door from police investigators and everything fell apart.
In eight revealing episodes, featuring Shiv’s own audio recordings of his conversations with Hassan, Shiv searches for where he can place his trust: in the reams of evidence, in the police, in a terrorist who swears he’s changed, or in a friend who has no one else to turn to?
The Messenger is a story of friendship, lies, betrayal, terrorism, the breakdown of a marriage, a reputation in ruin, the insidiousness of fake news long before it went viral and a fifteen year obsession for the truth.
Shiv Malik says: “Fifteen years in the making, this podcast really has been an epic labour of perseverance. Chasing this story to its very end, put me through some of the worst moments of my life. But to now have it out, reach number one, and to receive so many personal messages from listeners, sharing their most trying moments with me, it’s all been so heartening.”
All episodes of The Messenger are available now on Audible.
