Lessons from resolved complaints

Much of the Commission’s work involves conciliating complaints that may raise a breach of the Code. Over four hundred formal complaints a year are settled through the publication of corrections, apologies and so on. The outcomes are all published on the Commission’s website. It is important to underline that, while these cases may not be adjudicated at a full meeting of the Commission, they can still illustrate lessons about how the Code should be interpreted.

Some examples over the last year include:

Pictures of Children

While the Code does not prohibit the publication of all photographs of children under 16 without the consent of the parents, consent is needed if the photographs “involve their own or another child’s welfare”.

Both The Sun and The Daily Mirror have apologised to parents for the publication of photographs of their children. The Sun used an image of children bicycling through potentially contaminated flood water; The Daily Mirror illustrated an article, which reported the discovery of a teacher’s report book containing unflattering remarks about pupils, with identifiable photographs of children taken outside the school.

In these two examples, as the photographs arguably did involve the children’s welfare, it was necessary for the newspapers to take some action to remedy the matter.

http://www.pcc.org.uk/case/resolved.html?article=NDY2OA

http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NDcwNg

Ensuring relatives are informed before identifying victims

The Commission has always held that it is not the role of newspapers to break the news of a person’s death to family members. The Bath Chronicle identified a murder victim before his name had been officially released by police. They had been informed that he had no family in the area, which was not – in fact – the case. The newspaper, on this occasion, accepted this and published an apology to the family (and a poem from the complainant).

http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NDQ0OQ

Private places

The Commission has emphasised that, before publication, editors must decide whether the person photographed is engaged in any private activity and whether he or she is visible and identifiable – with the naked eye – to someone in a public place. The Daily Star apologised to Charlotte Church and Gavin Henson for photographs taken of them in a place where they felt they had an expectation of privacy. The Daily Mail published a photograph of a man, who was at the centre of a local dispute over bell-ringing, standing on his drive some several yards from the street. It apologised to the complainant and destroyed the photograph to resolve the complaint.

http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NDc0MA

http://www.pcc.org.uk/case/resolved.html?article=NDkxOA

Putting things right promptly

A strength of the PCC is that it is designed to help put wrongs right quickly and without confrontation. When a newspaper or magazine has published an inaccuracy, the PCC requires that it offers corrections and apologies promptly.

The MP Lembit Opik came to the PCC after numerous newspapers inaccurately suggested that he left his fiancée for his new girlfriend. He clarified that his fiancée had herself broken off their engagement and it was after this that he had begun a new relationship.

The PCC was able quickly to negotiate appropriate settlements to his complaints.

http://www.pcc.org.uk/advanced_search.html?keywords=lembit&page=1&num=10&publication=x&decision=x