The Eye

About The Eye

The Eye is a Welsh investigative news website edited by the former BBC journalist Phil Parry, publishing hard-hitting reporting and commentary from Wales with the motto "Finding Light in Darkness". Launched in 2011 after Parry left the BBC, it carries articles written by a team of contributors under his editorship, pursuing the kind of investigative journalism he practised for more than two decades in broadcasting. Its targets have included alleged fraudsters, public bodies, politicians and figures in Welsh public life, and Parry has described undercover investigative work as instrumental to many of its stories. The site at the-eye.wales publishes new material regularly, with Parry's own byline appearing on much of the output.

Phil Parry: from the BBC to independence

Phil Parry spent twenty-three years at the BBC, joining BBC Wales in 1987, where for ten years he was a reporter for the flagship current affairs series Week In Week Out. He later presented BBC Radio Wales news programmes and worked as a reporter for BBC Two's Public Eye and Newsnight, as well as presenting episodes of Panorama. His 2003 Panorama programme "Fair Cops", which questioned the police investigation of the Clydach murders, won a BAFTA Cymru award for best current affairs programme in 2004. He left the BBC in 2010 and launched The Eye in 2011, trading the resources of a national broadcaster for the freedom of an independent website. In 2019 he published the memoir "A Good Story", recounting his career in journalism and his experience of living with hereditary spastic paraplegia, the incurable condition that means he now works from home.

An award-winning journalistic pedigree

Parry's broadcasting career brought him numerous awards, including BT Wales TV Reporter of the Year twice, Radio Reporter of the Year and overall Welsh Journalist of the Year, alongside the best current affairs programme prize at the Royal Television Society ceremony and a Celtic Media Award for best current affairs programme. Perhaps his most celebrated achievement was the Week In Week Out investigation into the Cardiff Newsagent Three case, which uncovered vital new evidence and led to the release from prison of three men who had spent eleven years behind bars after being wrongly convicted of murder. That record of journalism with real-world consequences set the standard he has sought to maintain on The Eye.

Launch of The Eye in 2011

The Eye was launched in 2011 as Parry's own investigative website, a platform where he could continue to ask awkward questions without the constraints of a large broadcasting organisation. Articles published on the site are written by a team of contributors and edited by Parry himself, who remains the dominant voice and the public face of the operation. The site's name and its mission statement, "Finding Light in Darkness", reflect his conviction that investigative journalism is needed now more than ever. From the outset it positioned itself as an independent, campaigning presence in Welsh media, unafraid to take on subjects the mainstream outlets avoided.

Investigative targets and undercover work

The site's investigations have ranged across Welsh public life. Parry has described how undercover investigative journalism on The Eye was instrumental in disclosing the criminal past of a South Wales property figure accused of conning people out of thousands of pounds, a story he said the mainstream media had not touched. Other targets have included public officials, business figures and media personalities, with Parry arguing that the kind of journalism practised on the site is vital in the modern world. He has written at length about the importance of speaking to people, the virtue of speed as well as accuracy, the vital role of knowledge of history, and the importance of information from trusted sources. The site's willingness to name names has made it both influential and controversial.

Commentary on media and politics

Alongside its investigations, The Eye publishes extensive commentary on the state of the media in Wales and beyond. Parry has written critically about the BBC's handling of current affairs in Wales, including the axing of Week In Week Out after fifty-three years and the launch of its successor strand BBC Wales Investigates. He has commented on the dangers facing journalists, drawing parallels between his own experiences of online abuse and the far graver threats faced by reporters in conflict zones. His pieces frequently take aim at politicians, including commentary on prime ministers and presidents, and he has noted with irony the calls from politicians to strengthen the press in Wales, suggesting that the uncomfortable investigative journalism practised by The Eye may not be quite what they had in mind.

A combative online presence

Parry is candid about the hostility his journalism attracts. He has written about enduring constant abuse online, including being called a bully, being accused of misogyny over articles about women in the media, and having his Wikipedia entry repeatedly vandalised, on one occasion with his description as an investigative journalist altered to call the site a personal blog. He treats such attacks as par for the course for an investigative journalist, comparing his situation, with due humility, to that of reporters who have faced far worse, including the murdered American journalist Jeff German. The combative tone is part of the site's identity: Parry presents himself as a reporter who will not be intimidated out of pursuing a story.

Recent output and ongoing campaigns

The site continues to publish new material on a regular basis, with recent posts through the summer of 2026 covering subjects from Welsh politics to international affairs. Recurring themes include the conduct of public figures, the state of Welsh media, and the behaviour of Russia's leadership, with Parry connecting global stories to his long-standing interest in investigative reporting. The Eye's output is unmistakably personal: most pieces are written in the first person, blending reporting with memoir and opinion in a style that reflects its origins as one journalist's independent platform. For readers, that personality is the point; the site offers a direct line to a veteran reporter's view of the news.

Defending investigative journalism

A constant thread in Parry's writing is the defence of investigative journalism as an essential public good. He has argued that a free and independent media is essential to a functioning society, while noting that it does not exist in many states around the world. He venerates the legendary Sunday Times editor Sir Harry Evans, whose Insight team broke some of the biggest stories in British journalism, including the thalidomide scandal, and has written approvingly of the dramatisation of Evans's life starring the Cardiff-born actor Matthew Rhys. Parry positions his own work as continuing in that campaigning tradition, adapted to the economics and technologies of the digital age.

A distinctive voice in Welsh media

Fifteen years after its launch, The Eye remains a distinctive and unmistakable voice in Welsh media: part investigative outlet, part personal column, part campaigning platform. It has no newsroom, no corporate owner and no obligation to the consensus of the day, only the convictions of its editor. For supporters, it represents the persistence of old-school shoe-leather journalism in an era of shrinking newsrooms; for its targets, it is an uncomfortable reminder that someone is still watching. Either way, Phil Parry's website has secured its place as one of the most recognisable independent journalism brands in Wales.