The Press Complaints Commission is an independent body which deals with complaints from members of the public about the editorial content of newspapers and magazines. The service to the public is free and aims to be quick and easy. The PCC aims to deal with most complaints in just 35 working days and there is no cost to the people complaining.

The PCC received 4698 complaints in 2008 - of which over two thirds were about accuracy in reporting. Nearly one in four was related to intrusion into privacy of some sort. All complaints are investigated under the editors' Code of Practice, which binds all national and regional newspapers and magazines. The Code - drawn up by editors themselves - covers the way in which news is gathered and reported. It also provides special protection to particularly vulnerable groups of people such as children, hospital patients and those at risk of discrimination.

The PCC's main aim with any complaint which raises a possible breach of the Code of Practice is always to resolve it as quickly as possible. Because of its success in this, the Commission had to adjudicate on only 45 complaints in 2008.

As well as dealing with complaints, the PCC deals with a substantial number of calls from members of the public about its service and about the Code. It is always happy to offer general guidance on the Code.



The Press Complaints Commission is charged with enforcing the following Code of Practice which was framed by the newspaper and periodical industry and was ratified by the PCC on 01 August 2007.

All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional standards. The Code, which includes this preamble and the public interest exceptions below, sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public's right to know. It is the cornerstone of the system of self-regulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment.

It is essential that an agreed code be honoured not only to the letter but in the full spirit. It should not be interpreted so narrowly as to compromise its commitment to respect the rights of the individual, nor so broadly that it constitutes an unnecessary interference with freedom of expression or prevents publication in the public interest.

It is the responsibility of editors and publishers to apply the Code to editorial material in both printed and online versions of publications. They should take care to ensure it is observed rigorously by all editorial staff and external contributors, including non-journalists, in printed and online versions of publications.

Editors should co-operate swiftly with the PCC in the resolution of complaints. Any publication judged to have breached the Code must print the adjudication in full and with due prominence, including headline reference to the PCC.

• Accuracy
  
  i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.
  
  ii) A significant inaccuracy, mis-leading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate - an apology published.
  
  iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
  
  iv) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.



• Opportunity to reply
  
  A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for.



• *Privacy
  
  i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications. Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual's private life without consent.
  
  ii) It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in private places without their consent.
  
  Note - Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.



• *Harassment
  
  i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
  
  ii) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on their property when asked to leave and must not follow them.
  
  iii) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.



• Intrusion into grief or shock
  
  In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.
  
  ii) When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.



• *Children
  
  i) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.
  
  ii) A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child's welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents.
  
  iii) Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities.
  
  iv) Minors must not be paid for material involving children's welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child's interest.
  
  v) Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child's private life.



• *Children in sex cases
  
  1. The press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences.
  
  2. In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child -
  
  i) The child must not be identified.
  
  ii) The adult may be identified.
  
  iii) The word "incest" must not be used where a child victim might be identified.
  
  iv) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child.



• *Hospitals
  
  i) Journalists must identify them-selves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries.
  
  ii) The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.



• *Reporting of Crime
  
  (i) Relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime should not generally be identified without their consent, unless they are genuinely relevant to the story.
  
  (ii) Particular regard should be paid to the potentially vulnerable position of children who witness, or are victims of, crime. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings.



• *Clandestine devices and subterfuge
  
  i) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents or photographs.
  
  ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.



• Victims of sexual assault
  
  The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and they are legally free to do so.



• Discrimination
  
  i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.
  
  ii) Details of an individual's race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.



• Financial journalism
  
  i) Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others.
  
  ii) They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor.
  
  iii) They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future.



• Confidential sources
  
  Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information.



• Witness payments in criminal trials
  
  i) No payment or offer of payment to a witness - or any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness - should be made in any case once proceedings are active as defined by the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
  
  This prohibition lasts until the suspect has been freed unconditionally by police without charge or bail or the proceedings are otherwise discontinued; or has entered a guilty plea to the court; or, in the event of a not guilty plea, the court has announced its verdict.
  
  *ii) Where proceedings are not yet active but are likely and foreseeable, editors must not make or offer payment to any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a wit-ness, unless the information concerned ought demonstrably to be published in the public interest and there is an over-riding need to make or promise payment for this to be done; and all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure no financial dealings influence the evidence those witnesses give. In no circumstances should such payment be conditional on the outcome of a trial.
  
  *iii) Any payment or offer of payment made to a person later cited to give evidence in proceedings must be disclosed to the prosecution and defence. The witness must be advised of this requirement.



• *Payment to criminals
  
  i) Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information, which seek to exploit a particular crime or to glorify or glamorise crime in general, must not be made directly or via agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates ? who may include family, friends and colleagues.
  
  ii) Editors invoking the public interest to justify payment or offers would need to demonstrate that there was good reason to believe the public interest would be served. If, despite payment, no public interest emerged, then the material should not be published.



• The public interest
  
  There may be exceptions to the clauses marked * where they can be demonstrated to be in the public interest.
  
  1. The public interest includes, but is not confined to:
  
  i) Detecting or exposing crime or serious impropriety.
  ii) Protecting public health and safety.
  iii) Preventing the public from being misled by an action or statement of an individual or organisation.
  
  2. There is a public interest in freedom of expression itself.
  
  3. Whenever the public interest is invoked, the PCC will require editors to demonstrate fully how the public interest was served.
  
  4. The PCC will consider the extent to which material is already in the public domain, or will become so.
  
  5. In cases involving children under 16, editors must demonstrate an exceptional public interest to over-ride the normally paramount interest of the child.

The PCC Helpline number is 0845 600 2757. If you are ringing us from Scotland, the number is 0131 220 6652. From Wales, the number is 029 2039 5570. (These are all local rate numbers, so you will not pay more than the price of a local call.)

If you are deaf or have problems hearing, you can use a Textphone on 020 7831 0123.

If you are blind, or visually impaired the PCC will provide you with a copy of this leaflet and of the Code on audio cassette.

If you have a complaint about something in a newspaper or magazine which you think breaks the press Code of Practice the best thing to do first is to write to the editor about it. That is usually the quickest way of getting a correction or apology for an inaccuracy or intrusion.

If the editor hasn't replied to you within a week - or you are unhappy with his or her response - then write to the PCC as soon as possible.

Look at a copy of the press Code of Practice to see which part of it you think the article has breached, then summarise your complaint in a letter to the PCC and explain why you think the Code has been breached. If there is any other relevant correspondence which might help us to assess the complaint, then send it was well.

Alternatively, there is an on-line complaints form which you can find by clicking here. If you make a complaint this way you must supply the article you are complaining about either in hard copy form within seven days or as an attachment or link.

Also, send us a cutting of the complete article - making sure the name of the publication is clear - and a note of the date on which it was published.

Then send your complaint to:

Press Complaints Commission,
Halton House
20/23 Holborn
London
EC1N 2JD

You should make your complaint within one month of the publication of the article. Alternatively, if you have immediately taken up the matter direct with the editor, the PCC will deal with complaints received up to one month after the end of correspondence with him or her.

The Commission has regarded downloading an article as republication. Therefore, material that is freely available on a newspaper's website can generally be complained about, even if the piece was not originally published within the last two months.

What happens next?

• Sometimes the PCC receives complaints about matters that turn out to be outside its responsibility - for instance, about promotions or advertising material. If that is the case, the PCC will tell you promptly and also tell you which organisation you ought to be complaining to, giving you their details.
  
• If your complaint is one the PCC can deal with, the PCC will examine it carefully. Having done so, the Commission might decide at that stage that there is no possible breach of the Code - or the PCC cannot take the matter further for some other reason - and the PCC will tell you accordingly. That means that the PCC can't take matters any further - but, even so, a copy of your letter will be sent to the editor so that he or she is aware of your concerns.
• If the PCC thinks that your complaint does raise a possible breach of the Code, the PCC will send a copy of your complaint to the editor and ask for your comments on the editor's reply. As the investigation continues, you may be asked for more information and comments.
• The PCC's aim will be to resolve your complaint as quickly and effectively as possible. This might, for instance, be done by obtaining an explanation from the editor, or by the publication of a correction, an apology, a letter from you or - sometimes - by a further article or private letter from the editor. If the PCC thinks that the offer from the editor is reasonable, the PCC will tell you and encourage you to take it up.
• If the PCC can't resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, it will review all the circumstances - including any offers to resolve the complaint made by the editor - and take a decision as to whether it can adjudicate on the complaint. If the PCC upholds your complaint, the publication concerned will be obliged to publish its criticism of them in full and with due prominence. A copy of its adjudication will be contained in its regular Bulletin, and also published on its website.
• On the other hand, the Commission may conclude that there has not been a breach of the Code. Or it may decide that the remedial action taken or offered by the newspaper (such as a correction) has been a sufficient response to your complaint. In that case, there will be no further action. Or it may decide it cannot take the matter further for some reason.
  

You will be kept informed at regular intervals throughout this process about how your complaint is progressing. Once your complaint has been taken up, a named Complaints Officer will be dealing with you throughout and will be available on the phone to discuss anything with you.



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