• Statistics 2010
  • Introduction
  • The key numbers
  • What do people complain about?
  • Complaints with merit
  • Complaints without merit
  • Speed of service
  • Prominence
  • Desist requests and
    pre-publication advice
  • Complainant feedback and public opinion research
• Key rulings 2010

Statistics 2010

Prominence of corrections

Newspapers and magazines should not bury corrections and apologies. Working towards ensuring that corrective action is published with due prominence is a key aim for the PCC and is something we have monitored since 2005. In that year, 59% of corrections negotiated by the Commission were published on the same page or further forward than the material under complaint. In 2010, the figure was 69.7%. Looking only at corrections that contained an apology, the proportion rises to 81.1%.

Of course, due prominence does not mean necessarily that corrections must appear on a set page. An apology for a serious error might properly be published closer to the front of a newspaper than the original article appeared. A clarification of less significance might - on rare occasions - reasonably be published further back. And some people prefer to have a correction on a particular page, the letters page for example.

However, the overall picture is certainly encouraging, with 89.4% of PCC-negotiated corrections being published no later than two pages further back than the material complained of or in a dedicated corrections column.

Prominence of corrections and apologies:

Hover over category to see the related figures.

45.5% Further forward than the original article:	24.2% Same page as the original	10.6% Designated corrections column	14.4% Within five pages of the original	5.3% More than five pages later than the original