Our service in action

The PCC’s procedures – fast, free and fair – are designed to provide a far more attractive alternative to members of the public than legal action, which is renowned as being cumbersome, adversarial, expensive and something of a lottery. If a complaint is brought to the Commission that seems to raise a breach of the Code, then the focus is very much on negotiating a settlement to the dispute – rather than provoking a confrontation – in order to achieve as swift and satisfactory an outcome as possible. Over the years the Commission has helped to instill among editors a culture of conciliation, so that the first thing that an editor now usually asks when things go wrong is ‘how can I put this right?’ rather than ‘how can I get the complaint to go away?’.

The Commission’s team of dedicated complaints officers always searches for effective and imaginative ways to resolve complaints to the satisfaction of our customers – the complainants. In order to establish a flavour of this service, set out below are details of just a few of the hundreds of complaints last year where an editor agreed to remedy a breach of the Code.

• A national newspaper report of the suicide of a young man contained inaccuracies about the state of the man’s health in the period just before his tragic death. The newspaper published a prominent correction and apology.
• A member of the public complained that a profile of him in a national Sunday newspaper contained inaccuracies and pejorative references about him in breach of the discrimination clause. As it often does in such cases where further publicity is clearly undesirable for the complainant, the Commission negotiated – after a fruitful period of dialogue – a private resolution to the complaint.
• A complaint that a report in a regional newspaper contained inaccuracies about a woman’s son had particular urgency because the man tragically died after the article was published. The newspaper recognised the special importance of resolving this matter quickly and a correction and apology soon appeared.
• A county constabulary complained on behalf of one of its officers that an article in a local evening newspaper contained intrusive and discriminatory material. In a constructive resolution to the complaint the newspaper agreed – in addition to apologising to the individual concerned – to attend a meeting with officers from the constabulary to discuss issues arising from the case.
• A woman who was involved in car accident suffered additional trauma when her local newspaper confused some of the key facts about the incident. Fortunately, after complaining to the Commission, the matter was sorted out within a few days when the editor personally apologised to the complainant as well as publishing a correction and apology in his newspaper.
• Representatives of a mental health patient complained that an article about her intruded into her privacy. The local newspaper editor concerned – anxious not to exacerbate the situation by publishing anything further –
quickly agreed to write to the patient to apologise.
• A prominent evening regional newspaper inaccurately reported that a woman had pleaded guilty to charges of racial harassment. In fact, the charges had been dismissed. The editor soon published a correction and apology, along with a photograph of the complainant as she had requested.

These are just a few examples of the huge variety of complaints that the Commission’s staff deal with each year. Many more problems are dealt with as a result of the practical advice that is given by our Helpline staff. In cases of harassment our advisers arm members of the public with the information necessary to deal with unwanted approaches from journalists. And when something has gone wrong in print, we tell callers how to approach editors directly and how to frame their complaints, allowing newspapers to settle complaints without the need for intervention by the Commission.

A full list of resolved complaints can be found here.