A Woman and the Irish Daily Mail

The Press Ombudsman has decided that an offer by the Irish Daily Mail to publish a correction of a factual error in a news story about an armed robbery constituted an offer of sufficient remedial action on its part to resolve a complaint by a victim of the robbery.

A woman and her husband were tied up in their home during the robbery, and the news report about these events described the complainant as a golf club lady captain. The complainant said that this was inaccurate as she was not lady captain of the club, and the complaint was considered under Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals.

The newspaper promptly offered to publish a correction about the complainant’s position in the golf club, but this offer was turned down by the complainant. The newspaper’s offer to publish a correction was sufficient action on its part to resolve the complaint.

The complainant was also very concerned at the publication of other material in the article, but as the publication of the material in question did not present prima facie evidence of a breach of the Code of Practice, it could not be taken into consideration in the decision of the Press Ombudsman.

11 May 2010