The story of ‘Baby P’ was told through many routes. First, it was told through the media. This included the local, national and international print press of newspapers. It included radio and television, with 24-hour news channels both repeating the story-telling but also continuously looking for new angles and ‘breaking news’. And it included the newer media of web feeds, blogs and Twitter.

Second, the story was told through inquiries and reviews which informed media comment and provided material for media coverage, with new inquiry and review reports re-energising and feeding the continuing story over many years. The inquiries and reviews were also conducted in the context of the previous and present media coverage, which may have had an impact on the inquiries and reviews.

Third, the story was told through the tribunal and court proceedings that in different ways were related or contributed to the ‘Baby P story’. These tribunal and court hearings included, as shown in Chapter One, the criminal trial of the adults convicted of causing or allowing the death of Peter Connelly. They also later included the employment tribunals and the High Court hearings in relation to the workers who had been dismissed following Peter’s death and the demands of The Sun and others. There were also the hearings by professional bodies that considered the competence and conduct of the professionals who were referred to them following the initial media coverage and the subsequent dismissals.

Fourth, one book was quickly prepared and published in 2009, capturing and repeating how the story was then being structured and told within the media, and especially by The Sun. A further book has been printed in the US, but with no date or publisher noted in the book. Although there was a dominant story line largely set by The Sun, over time other media beyond the tabloid press came to tell more differentiated stories of the complexities of child protection work and also to re-frame and re-balance the overwhelming focus of The Sun and other tabloid newspapers on social workers, Sharon Shoesmith and Haringey Council.

Fifth, the story was not so much told but analysed and interpreted through academic papers and publications that reflected on how the story was told and the impact of its telling.