Apr
30
Over on the Media Standards Trust blog, I asked why the Advertising Standards Authority gets 463% more complaints than the Press Complaints Commission. I wanted to start a debate so I didn’t want to answer my own question. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve convinced myself of the following:
1. The press hates reporting the press
Peter Hill told the culture media and sport select committee this week that he could not remember a single article in which he’d reported the affairs of a journalist, another newspaper or a proprietor. He said that the affairs of the press just weren’t that interesting. Consequently, when a newspaper gets it wrong and has to apologise or correct an article, the press don’t report it – because they think it’s uninteresting.
Compare that state of affairs with the advertising industry (or TV broadcasters). As a very rough guide, Google News reveals 248 articles in the last month reporting complaints about adverts.
2. Therefore, the PCC has an unusually low media profile
The launch of the ASA’s annual report was on Radio 4, 5Live, one of the top 5 most read articles on The Guardian and a feaure in lots of newspapers. Google News doesn’t have any results for the publication of the PCC annual report (although I’m sure it was covered in Media Guardian and journalism.co.uk).
3. PCC work doesn’t attract press coverage
Before he left, Christopher Meyer was quite clear that newspapers could do more to draw attention to the rulings of the PCC. However, it’s not just about the prominence of the official results. It’s about whether a newspaper getting it wrong is a news story. It was when the BBC broadcast Ross-Brand, it was when Channel 4 was in trouble over Big Brother. How many newspapers prominently reported the libel payments to the McCanns?
The PCC therefore lacks lots of free publicity from newspapers and other news outlets (when did you last here a BBC news bulletin about problematic press articles) which other regulators get. Therefore, fewer people are aware of the PCC and understand its value. So fewer people complain to it.
Related posts:
- Well done, Press Complaints Commission
- Citizen driven media complaints
- Press Complaints Commission’s farcical investigation of Keith Vaz affair
- The PCC must be reformed