A Scottish news and comments website has published an apology following a damning story it ran about a local weekly newspaper.
ForArgyll.com suggested in an article last week that the Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard was unlikely to survive beyond the end of the year.
The website ran the story without a response from the newspaper or its publisher E & R Inglis Ltd.
In its apology ForArgyll said it did not intend any harm to the paper which it had always supported. The article has since been removed from the site.
It said: “On Monday September 13 we published an article on this website suggesting that the company that owns the Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard was in such dire financial straits that it would be unlikely to survive until the end of this year.
“The content of this article was not checked with E & R Inglis Ltd., the company concerned, and the article contained several inaccuracies, which we would like to correct.
“E & R Inglis Ltd. owners of the newspaper established in 1871 have confirmed that the company remains profitable, and any assertion that it is in immediate danger of failing is incorrect.
“Further, the claim made in the article that another newspaper group was about to bid to purchase the newspaper is not based on fact. No contact has been made with or from any other business in this regard.”
An email from the newspaper company had been sent to ForArgyll but was not read because it had gone into the spam folder.
In a response which was printed on ForArgyll, the newspaper publisher said: “The company has introduced a number of measures in response to the current economic climate, in common with many other businesses in the region.
“The company is in a good trading position and will survive the current recession. A business plan, including substantial investment in new printing equipment, is in place to enable E & R Inglis to come out stronger on the other side.
“The allegations made on ForArgyll are not only inaccurate, but irresponsible and potentially damaging to a long-established Argyll family company.”
ForArgyll apologised unreservedly for any upset and damage to the business reputation of the newspaper and company.
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Monday September 13 did not exist. It was the 12th!
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Typical example of untrained local gossips being given a free hand to publish what they want without realising the legal implications – seems to be more common these days. They didn’t even get the apology right. September 13th was a Tuesday and not a Monday !! (For the information of the untrained, those two final exclamation marks used to be called dogs’ dicks in the printing trade).
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There’s a few people in the “blogosphere” who could do with a similar dose of reality.
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