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.

Hereford Times
Edward Fowler-Wright complained that the newspaper had edited a letter he had submitted for publication in such a way as to render it misleading.

His letter had contained the following paragraph: “Your campaign is worth doing but its benefit may be limited to an extent because many of the people driving in the relevant area are passing through so road improvement and enforcement measures may help them but not the safe driving etc. PR”.

This was edited to read the following: “Your campaign is worth doing but its benefit may be limited because many driving in the area are passing through so road improvement and enforcement measures may help them but not the safe driving.”

The complainant had been seeking to make the point that those passing through the area would not benefit from the PR campaign; the amendment meant that he was appearing to argue that they would not benefit from safer driving itself. The problem was compounded by the fact that the newspaper then published a letter from another correspondent who criticised the complainant for making this “staggeringly bizarre statement”. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The Commission considered the complaint on two occasions. It accepted the merit of the complainant’s concerns that the newspaper had published a letter critical of the complainant based on a misrepresentation of what he actually said, without giving the complainant the opportunity to respond further.

The matter could have been resolved by the further publication of a corrective statement (which would have been a better solution), but the complainant considered the Commission’s acknowledgement of the merits of his case was sufficient to enable the complaint to be resolved.

Isle of Wight County Press
Dr James Spence, Dental Surgeon, complained that an article which stated that he was pulling out of the National Health Service was inaccurate and misleading. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper agreed to publish the following correction:

“Further to our article of 19 December 2008, we have been asked by Dr James Spence, Dental Surgeon, to make clear that his current contract with the IW Primary Care Trust under which he cares for 2,000 children remains under dispute and that he has not pulled out of the NHS. Furthermore, free treatment will be guaranteed for children in low income families. Adults under NHS care in the practice will also be protected for three years at least.”

The Primary Care Trust have in any case now offered him a new contract which remains to be finalised. In the event, the newspaper published a different wording. It therefore agreed to publish the above text, in addition to adding the following:

“The original correction of this matter contained wording other than that agreed with Dr Spence. The County Press apologises for this, and for any misleading impression given by the article’s original headline.”

Worksop Guardian
Matt Hibbs, of Ollerton, complained that the newspaper had published a letter from a reader that contained inaccuracies regarding events at his father’s funeral and was misleading about the nature of the travelling community. He was also concerned that the letter’s headline had been both discriminatory and insensitive at a time when he and his family were grieving. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published an apology with due prominence in the following terms:

“On 31st October 2008, we published a letter from a reader headlined ‘Leeches on our society’, which commented upon a funeral for a member of the travelling community. We would like to apologise for the distress caused, at a difficult time, to the family by this letter and its headline.

Hendon and Finchley Press
Mr M Maloney, of London, complained that the newspaper had inaccurately reported that a million black people had been killed by the Nazis in concentration camps during the Second World War, in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper agreed to publish the following correction:

“On 5 February, we reported that a million black people, along with numerous members of other groups, had been killed by the Nazis in concentration camps during WWII. The figure of one million actually referred to the total number of individuals from all of those groups who were killed. We are happy to clarify this matter in the interests of historical accuracy.”

Sunday Herald
Kim Homer, of Cumbernauld, complained that an article reporting on a film produced by anti-sectarian campaign group Nil By Mouth had included the inaccurate allegations that her neighbour had been subjected to a hate campaign by her husband, who was not named. The complainant indicated that the footage of her neighbour had now been removed from the film. (Clause 1).

Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper permanently deleted the article from its archive.