Nov
24
The Press Complaints Commission yesterday censured the Scottish News of the World. The paper had to publish an adjudication (which appeared on page 2) after an article which accused a seven year old child of anti social behaviour and criminal activity.
The child’s parents, and members of the local community provided evidence undermining some of the claims in the article – particularly that he had been expelled from a number of schools (he had not).
The PCC ruled against the newspaper on for a breach of the code on accuracy (clause one) and children (clause six).
However, the ruling was not straightforward. On the basis of the evidence available, I believe that the Scottish News of the World was unfairly censured and should have the right of appeal.
This adjudication against the Scottish News of the World appears to be a threat to freedom of expression. If a newspaper cannot report a neighbour’s reports of anti social behaviour of a child (even if they pixellate the child’s face and try to obscure the identity) then many issues will go un-reported until they reach court. And one of the reasons for the introduction of anti social behaviour orders was the difficulty of bringing such issues to court.
The case may be more complicated than the adjudication reveals. It does make a passing reference to “the child’s medical condition”. But from the available information, the ruling is both at odds with the PCC’s previous decisions and a threat to the freedom of expression and the public’s right to know.
Nov
10
Liverpool beat Hull City 4-1 in their most convincing display of the season – although high-flying Hull didn’t provide much opposition. They were out-classed all over the pitch. The reds are now 6 points clear at the top of the league.
Pacheco was excellent although David Amoo was probably the most improved player. A goal for Nikola Saric will have helped him immensely.
Nov
3
Liverpool reserves beat Everton reserves comfortably in the mini derby, despite the 1-0 scoreline and the best efforts of Robbie Threlfall. It’s a fantastic run for the young reserve team but for me the realy story of the night was Zsolt Poloskei.