A Woman and the Western People

The Press Ombudsman has decided that the Western People made an offer of sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint by a woman about an article reporting on the death of a relative.

The woman complained that an article in the Western People breached Principle 5.3 (Privacy) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Periodicals as it did not take into account the feelings of her grieving family when it published the information, as it was published in the newspaper on the day of her relative’s funeral and re-published information about his previous conviction for murder. She also complained that the newspaper had not responded to her original letter of complaint to the editor.

The newspaper accepted that the complainant and her family had been upset by the article, but said that it had not been published with that intention, and that it did not deliberately set out to cause grief. It said that it had not responded to the complainant’s original letter of complaint as the editor had previously held a long meeting with another family member during which he offered to meet any other member of the family to address any issues arising from the publication of the article.

Following the complainant’s approach to the Office of the Press Ombudsman, the editor of the newspaper renewed his offer to meet the complainant and her solicitor to resolve any outstanding issues. The complainant turned down the offer of a meeting stating that only a public apology by the newspaper to her and her family would resolve the matter to her satisfaction.

Although the offer of a meeting was deemed unacceptable by the complainant, it was made in good faith by the editor and its outcome had not in any sense been pre-determined. In all of the circumstances, the publication’s willingness to engage in a structured and reasonable dialogue with the complainant about a possible resolution to her complaint represented an offer of sufficient remedial action on its part to resolve the complaint.
22 June 2010