McGinley and the University Times

The Press Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a complaint made by Dr Kieran Jack McGinley and other staff of the library in Trinity College Dublin about a report published in the University Times on 23 March 2011.

Dr McGinley and the library staff complained that an allegation about “lazy library staff” made by a speaker in a university debate, and included in a report of the debate, breached Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy), Principle 2 (Distinguishing Fact and Comment), Principle 4 (Respect for Rights) and Principle 8 (Prejudice) of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines.

The report in question quoted the President of the University Philosophical Society, Mr Declan Meehan, as saying, in the course of a debate involving four of the five candidates for the Provostship of Trinity College, that “Trinity is seen as Ireland’s number one college, yet it has so many problems; from lazy library staff to an absolutely appalling IS Services. The incoming Provost needs to reform college services”. Mr. Meehan subsequently confirmed that he believed he had been accurately quoted.

The allegation in question, while understandably rejected by Dr McGinley and the staff of the library, was part of an accurate report of remarks made in the course of what the publication described as an angry exchange at a public debate. In these circumstances, it did not breach any of the Principles of the Code of Practice cited by the complainants. While it is a general requirement of Principle 4 that publications must take reasonable care in checking facts before publication, it would be unreasonable to expect them to check, before publication, the factual accuracy of any and every general or unsubstantiated allegation made by a third party in circumstances such as those outlined above, as long as such statements are properly attributed and accurately reported.

In this context, the Press Ombudsman notes that on receipt of the original complaint about the article, the editor of the newspaper immediately offered the complainant a right of reply by the publication of an opinion piece to be published on the universitytimes.ie website.

13 July 2011