HANDS up all those who’ve never made a mistake in their working lives. Congratulations if you’re one of those with their hands still firmly by their sides.

The trouble for those who work in the media is that mistakes are often made in the full public glare and are seen by lots of people.

Colin Brazier began his career as a trainee at The Northern Echo and my memory of him is that he was a thoroughly nice but clearly ambitious young man.

He has done well for himself and his face is now familiar to viewers of Sky News, where he works as a reporter and news reader.

Last week, he was guilty of an appalling error of judgement while covering the shooting down of flight MH17.

Presenting Sky’s lunchtime coverage of the disaster in eastern Ukraine, he stooped down, put his hand inside a child’s suitcase and lifted up a water bottle and a set of keys.

Through the instant, merciless powers of social media, he was condemned for rummaging through the personal belongings of the dead, contaminating a crime scene, and desecrating a sacred site.

The criticism was extensive and savage, with calls for him to be sacked. To his critics, he was nothing more than an unfeeling news vulture.

Brazier responded by writing an emotional feature, apologising for his actions. It was published by several news organisations.

“What can mitigate the seemingly indefensible?”

he asked.

He went on to write about his horrific experiences at the crash site: the bodies and body parts everywhere; the nauseating smell of death; the graphic reminders of his own children which left him “blubbing”.

Brazier realised his error as soon as it was made, and he apologised immediately on air. He knew he had “screwed up” but it was too late.

In writing this column, I do not seek to underestimate the seriousness of Colin Brazier’s lapse in judgement. It was terrible.

But covering live news, often in the midst of terrible tragedy, requires instant decisions and it is inevitable that, sometimes, reporters will get it wrong in the heat of the moment.

I, for one, accepted his apology and appreciated the explanation of the context in which his error was made.

ON a much lighter note, the BBC was also guilty of an error during a live news break last week. A racehorse owned by The Queen, had failed a drugs test. The BBC’s live news ticker-tape read: “The Queen has tested positive for morphine.” To be fair, she is moving surprisingly well for her age.

A PRESS release announcing new North- East dates for Sooty arrived last week and captured my imagination.

Why don’t we set up a telephone interview with the showbusiness legend and post a recording of it on The Northern Echo’s website, I thought.

It took my ever-vigilant secretary to point out: “You do realise Sooty doesn’t speak – he just whispers. It’s not going to be much of a podcast.”