View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
March 25, 2010

PCC raps two papers for snap of children

By Oliver Luft

The Press Complaints Commission has upheld complaints against the Nottingham Evening Post and the Leicester Mercury after they published a photograph of police officers comforting children after an accident.

The complainant was the mother of a primary school child who had been on a school trip when the bus her daughter was travelling on crashed into a railway bridge.

The image showed her daughter and other children after the accident.

The child’s parent said the picture was taken and published without consent and as a result had caused her daughter further upset.

In their submissions to the PCC, both papers said they had considered whether or not to publish the photograph very carefully before deciding that it was in the public interest.

The Leicester Mercury suggested that publication would not have had an impact on the welfare of the children while the Nottingham Evening Post said the lack of serious injuries or fatalities had been an important factor in its decision.

Publishing its ruling today, the PCC said that newspapers “are entitled to publish stories and pictures of serious road accidents, which take place in public and often have wide-reaching consequences”, and that it “did not wish to interfere unnecessarily” with the newspapers’ right to report the story.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

The PCC said its code of conduct had been breached as there was “no doubt” the close-up photograph of the complainant’s daughter related to her welfare and it was not disputed that the image had been taken and published without parental consent.

“There may be occasions where the scale and gravity of the circumstances can mean that [such material] can be published in the public interest without consent” the PCC said. However, on this occasion the PCC judged the newspapers to be “just the wrong side of the line”.

“The commission’s ruling sends an important reminder to editors of the exceptionally high standards which the Commission expects when reporting stories related to children,” said Stephen Abell, director of the PCC.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network