An error by a weekly newspaper which led to two victims of sexual assault being identified in a court report has been branded ‘appalling’ by the Press Complaints Commission.
In what the press watchdog called a ‘catastrophic failure of the editorial process’, the Aldershot News and Mail included the women’s names in a court report published last August.
The Trinity Mirror-owned title was therefore in breach of clause 11 of the Editor’s Code of Practice which does not allow for the naming of victims of sexual offences.
The Commission upheld the complaint by Hampshire Police on behalf of the women and is referring the adjudication to Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey to make sure it does not happen again.
The article in question was a report of the opening of a trial at which a man had pleaded not guilty to crimes of a sexual nature, including indecent assault and attempted rape, against several women.
The two women were identified in the piece as alleged victims of sexual assault.
After being contacted by the Commission, the newspaper immediately accepted that it was at fault and put the inclusion of the women’s name down to human error, expressing “sincere regret” that it had happened.
The PCC’s adjudication was made last year but has only now been published due to associated legal proceedings.
It stated: “This was a truly shocking case in which two alleged victims of sexual crimes had been identified by name.
“There was simply no justification for naming them – as the newspaper itself had recognised – and the women, who were in a clearly vulnerable position, should have been protected as the code required.
“The newspaper’s mistake was an appalling one, and the commission had no hesitation in upholding the complaint.
“Given the exceedingly serious nature of this case and the catastrophic failure of the editorial process, the Commission agreed to refer the terms of its adjudication to the chief executive of Trinity Mirror so that action could be taken to prevent this ever happening in the future.”
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There but by the grace of God, and good subs, could go many newspapers. It only takes one careless or poorly-trained reporter…
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Terrifying that it went through the reporter, newsdesk and at least one sub though…but as you say, there but for the grace of God. I can only hope it was a late story close to deadline rather than badly-trained staff.
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subs? They are endangered species. Reporters, now working on 15 stories at once, are terrified of making mistakes (so they should be I know) because the copy is no longer checked as thoroughly as it used to be. Bad grammar, of which there is plenty in local papers, isn’t usually dangerous but court and other sensitive stuff is a big worry nowadays. With such low staff levels, seomthing has to give. But this example is rank bad journalism; no excuse.
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AS a consequence of reduced editorial staffing and standards, poor training, and pressure to lump stories quickly into pages, why should we be surprised that such an error ends up in print? The pages of the provincial press are littered with mistakes.
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What happens when you cut training and staff
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Totally unacceptable, of couse. Yet with sub editors largely phased out and many editors no longer hands-on, mistakes of this magnitude will almost certainly be repeated. I have no knowledge of the specific work practice in place on this occasion but, in general terms, putting the full onus on busy reporters is a dangerously high-risk strategy.
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Typical subs, think reporters are just idiots, holier than thou – and using something like this to have another dig.
Subs around the country drop more than a few clangers themselves you know, and there are many subs who aren’t fit to tie the shoe laces of the reporters whose copy they wreck.
I assume this copy passed through the subs in some form.
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Never assume anything.
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To Reporter and proud – I don’t think there’s specific criticism of reporters.
Everyone makes the occasional mistake – this one was a big one which would have been picked up by the sub.
Unfortunately managements, in their wisdom, don’t see the need for subs so a vital layer of checking has been removed, leaving the reporter unfairly exposed.
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I don’t think anyone at the paper has tried to find an “excuse”. It was a dreadful mistake. From what I have read, they have admitted it. Dreadful mistakes happened when there were sub editors, too.
I’m a bit confused about why this needed the police to complain to the PCC or, indeed, why the PCC had to make a judgement and send it off to Sly Bailey “to make sure it doesn’t happen again”. How exactly is she going to do that? Surely the paper didn’t attempt to defend it?
It’s a bad mistake, but right now a similar timebomb could be ticking away at my paper, or your paper. Lack of subs has nothing to do with it. We should show sympathy and support for the editor and the paper’s editorial team.
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That mistake should never have made it as far as the subs.
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