Decision of the Complaints Committee – 02972-20 Various v
The Daily Express
Summary of Complaint
1. The Independent Press Standards Organisation received
various complaints that The Daily Express breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the
Editors’ Code of Practice in an article headlined “PATEL WARNS SELFISH RULE
BREAKERS”, published on 24 April 2020.
2. The article appeared on the front page. It reported that
the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, planned to “make an urgent call for Britons to
stick to social-distancing measures” amid alarm that growing numbers of people
were “flouting government rules” on social distancing. The article contained a
prominent picture of Brighton’s promenade which showed large crowds enjoying
the sun.
3. IPSO received 22 complaints about this article.
Complainants said that the article was inaccurate as the picture of Brighton’s
promenade was not contemporaneous. Rather, they said it had been taken last
summer, which was evidenced by the fact that some cranes appearing in the
picture had since been removed.
4. The publication did not accept that the article breached
the Code. It provided the metadata for the picture, which showed that the photo
had been taken on 23 April 2020, a day before publication. The publication also
provided a Twitter post by a member of the public in which they apologised for
initially alleging that the article was inaccurate. This person had since stood
from where the photograph was taken from and confirmed that the same cranes that
had appeared in the photo were present.
Relevant Code provisions
5. Clause 1 (Accuracy)
i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate,
misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not
supported by the text.
ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or
distortion must be correction, promptly and with due prominence, and –where
appropriate- an apology published. In cases involving IPSO, due prominence
should be as required by the regulator.
Findings of the Committee
6. The metadata provided by the publication demonstrated
that the photo was contemporaneous and did in fact illustrate Brighton
promenade during the period of lockdown. There was no breach of Clause 1.
Conclusions
7. These complaints were not upheld.
Remedial Action Required
8. N/A
Date complaint received:
30/04/2020
Date decision issued: 05/06/2020
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