Below are summaries of the latest complaints involving the regional press which have been resolved between the parties involved, with help from the Press Complaints Commission.

Surrey Mirror
A man complained on behalf of his father that the newspaper had published a hospital document containing his father’s medical details which had been found discarded on a bus. Although the patients’ details had been obscured, he raised concerns that the published image could be “cleaned up” exposing his family to criminal activity. (Clause 3).

Resolution: The newspaper emphasised that the patients’ details had been heavily obscured in the published article and assured the complainant that the document could not be “cleaned up” to make the names legible. The complainant accepted this assurance as a resolution to his complaint.

Sunday Herald
Jack McConnell MSP complained that the newspaper published an article that carried the sub-headline “Electoral Commission admits: ‘We allowed politicians to break the law on election finances for five years'”.
He was concerned that he was the only politician named in the article, which referred to a breach of rules by “Jack McConnell’s constituency Labour party”. He made clear that there was no suggestion that he had broken the law or had responsibility for the breach of rules mentioned. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following clarification:

“In an article on the Electoral Commission and political donations published in the Sunday Herald on 15 June, we referred to the Electoral Commission admitting that it ‘allowed politicians to break the law in election finances for five years’.
“In that context, we referred to a Red Rose dinner organised by Jack McConnell’s constituency Labour party. We are happy to make clear that there is no suggestion that Mr McConnell broke the law or had any responsibility for the dinner.”

Isle of Wight County Press
Steve Squires, NUT representative for Ryde High School, complained that an article had misleadingly suggested that “staff” at the school had passed a vote of no confidence against the headteacher during her suspension. The complainant explained that support staff had passed such a vote but teaching staff had not participated. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following clarification:

“The National Union of Teachers has asked us to clarify that it was support staff and not teachers who passed a vote of no confidence in Ryde High school headteacher Linda McGowan.”

Northumberland Gazette
Allison Jones, of Northumberland, complained that the newspaper took and published a picture of the inside of her parents’ house when covering the devastation of the recent floods. (Clause 3).

Resolution: The newspaper sought to explain that the photograph was used after staff mistakenly assumed it had been submitted by the house owner. The editor said he regretted that the picture was taken and published without the house owner’s consent. He published an apology to this effect and the complaint was resolved on that basis.

Scotland on Sunday
Carol Murray, the Chairperson of the Kirkcaldy High School Parent Partnership, complained that the newspaper had published an article that suggested that the school was crime-ridden. She was also concerned that it failed to highlight the achievement of one pupil, who had designed a Knives Cut Lives slogan for the Fife area’s campaign against knives. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the editor sent a personal note to the pupil, apologising if the article had taken the shine off her considerable achievements.