• Introduction
• Chairman's perspective
• Public representatives
• Complainants
• Professional representatives
• Newspapers and magazines
• Doug Wills - Managing Editor, Evening Standard
• Elisabeth Ribbans - Managing Editor, The Guardian
• Donald Martin - Editor, The Sunday Post & The Weekly News; Editor-in-Chief, DC Thomson Newspapers
• Lisa Burrow - Editor, Closer Magazine
• Nick Turner - Digital Strategy Manager, CN Group
• Georgina Harvey - President of the Newspaper Society
• Alison Hastings - PCC Journalism Trainer, Former Editor, Evening Chronicle (Newcastle)
• The Press Complaints Commission
• Constructive critics
• International perspective
• Historical perspective
• Putting it into perspective

Newspapers and magazines

Alison Hastings - PCC Journalism Trainer, Former Editor, Evening Chronicle (Newcastle)

Getting a franked letter from the PCC in your editor's in-tray does not make for a great start to the day. Sometimes the contents do not come as a surprise as the complainant has already been in touch. Or the letter can reveal a problem you didn't even know existed.

Whatever the eventual outcome, initially it will mean time and investigation. Along the way you could well feel confi dent about your actions - or frustrated that one of your staff may have let you down. And the best way to ensure that you, your publication and your journalists do not end up with an upheld complaint is to ensure you are all regularly trained.

With budgets in the media tighter than they have ever been, training can easily end up as discretionary spend. So the fact the PCC offers free, tailored sessions across all departments means they are always snapped up. Who's going to look a gift horse in the mouth?

For the past nine years, since ileft the PCC as an editorial Commissioner, I have personally carried out nearly 300 training sessions on its behalf for the industry. These range from national newspaper department heads to university undergraduates on a media or journalism course. Both I and staff from the PCC also regularly do practical sessions in the regional press all over the UK.

The newspaper and magazine sessions are an opportunity for us to highlight important decisions plus changes to the Code and their implications so they understand how some of these can set firm precedents that will require changes in future practice.

With university under- and post-grads it helps focus their minds to know that for many it will be written into their contracts of employment that they must abide by the Code - and that they can lose those hard-fought jobs if they don't. It's also reassuring for them to learn that practices, which may have been much more accepted in my day as a young reporter in the mid-80s, are outlawed by the Code.

With all our training, we focus on making it targeted and practical - often getting the journalists themselves to decide on past cases. The debate surrounding their decisions is where the learning lies, and helps bring to life a 16-clause Code which is stuck up on the wall of a newsroom.

The PCC believes that its commitment to training the industry is a vital part of its remit and responsibilities. So it was reassuring to discover in the PCC's latest focus group research with members of the public how important they too feel this proactive work is. It gives the public confi dence that the industry takes its obligations to maintain the highest professional standards seriously - by devoting both time and money to learning and improving. It does not mean that journalists always get things right, but we help them understand their obligations under the Code - and ultimately help that in-tray look less daunting.