1. New Adjudication

In an adjudication published today, the PCC has underlined to editors the importance of co-operating swiftly with its enquiries. Censuring the Burton Mail for taking over six weeks to provide a substantive response to the Commission's requests for information, the Commission said that "one of the chief virtues of the self-regulatory system is its ability to resolve disputes quickly. It is unacceptable for editors to undermine this by unnecessarily delaying their responses to the Commission." However, the Commission rejected the rest of the complaint, which was made under Clause 3 (Privacy) of the Code. The newspaper had reported a recent robbery in the complainant's home, giving details of the property and the times between which the incident had taken place - something the complainant considered to be intrusive. The Commission was satisfied that there was a public interest in the manner in which the newspaper had used the article to appeal for witnesses, noting that it had to provide a certain level of detail to enable it to do so.

To read the full adjudication click here

2. New time limits for making complaints

The Commission would like editors to note that - following the first report of the Charter Compliance Panel which audits the PCC's standards of customer service - it has changed the time limits for making a complaint and will now accept complaints made within two months of publication. The previous limit was one month. When dealing directly with readers' complaints about matters that fall under the Code of Practice, the Commission would hope that newspapers give accurate information about the PCC's rules on accepting late complaints in case the complainant wishes to refer the matter to the Commission.

For any further information, please contact Stephen Abell on 020 7353 1248

22/7/04