By Gabriel Princewill-
A number of Uk publications are to be assessed by the Independent press Regulator , after being rounded up by The Eye Of Media.Com for allegedly breaching the regulator’s code by publishing an inaccurate and misleading article in relation to Ofcom and its report about Piers Morgan’s rant last March.
Seven publications repeated a false claim that Ofcom cleared Piers Morgan of multiple complaints made to Ofcom in March, despite our investigation which concluded this to be inaccurate.
By so doing, they breached Clause 1 of the code, which states that the Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading, or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text.
The Metro , Deadline , i news , The Daily Express , The Daily Star, The Daily Mail , and The Daily Mirror , all published the misleading conclusion last week (December 20), following an annual announcement by Ofcom that Good Morning Britain had received the highest complaint this year after the Duke and Duchess Of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, televised in March.
The broadcast led to multiple emotive complaints to regulator Ofcom, after axed former presenter, Piers Morgan said he did not believe a word of Meghan’s claim. He was accused of being provocative, insensitive, and racist by some of his angry critics, and other guests on the show were also complained about.
Morgan’s outright dismissal of Meghan’s accounts was borne out of a cynical view of the former U.S actress whom he had said ghosted him, and the presenter also said other similar accounts he heard about from her, one from a man she once dated, led him to the conclusion that it was ”informative of her character”. He perceived her as one trying to destroy the monarchy, and had also taken exception to the rift she has with her father.
Ofcom eventually produced a report on September 1 about the complaints which appeared to clear the former presenter, but this publication under my leadership was convinced that his sweeping dismissal of all her complaints, including that of suicide, was indefensible, even if he may have had any grounds on some of the other issues raised in the interview.
Following an appraisal of Ofcom’s September report by this publication which included a detailed chat with representatives of the regulator, Ofcom explicitly that its report was misinterpreted by the British media, whom they said should have taken time to read its findings in great detail.
When our findings of the report was published, most publications were notified on social media, and so would have been expected to have been aware of our findings from Ofcom. They all have access to ofcom to confirm the facts of our findings, but when the the inaccuracy was repeated last week, it was time for a decisive ruling on the matter.
This publication has today referred all the transgressing publication to the press watchdog, as part of our duty to clean up false reporting in the media. Two previous articles by the Daily Mail containing obvious inaccuracies are also to be presented to Ofcom for inaccurate and misleading reporting.
It will be one of the few occasions that the press regulator will have to deal with complaints about multiple publication at once, but could go a long way into setting the record straight on the matte.
Other publications that reported on the Ofcom’s ruling without repeating the misinformation, included The Sun Newspaper, The Independent, Wales On Line, The Times, and The Bristol Post. They obviously were careful not to report inaccurate information, or did not consider it right to do so, unlike the other publications.
Ipso’s press officer, Vikki Jillian, confirmed to this publication that unknowingly publishing an inaccuracy does not absolve any publication from blame in the event of publishing erroneous information. ”The entire complaint will be examined and investigated, and we will get back to you, and a decision published, she said.
The feud between The Sussexes and the royal family evoked strong feelings among different groups of society, prompting former television host, Piers Morgan to not only challenge their claims, but to dismiss the entirety of the accounts given by Meghan Markle, including claims o suicide.
Piers Morgan’s outright dismissal of Markle’s account led thousands to complain to the broadcasting watchdog, Ofcom. The general consensus was that the former presenter had been dismissive of Meghan Markle because of a vendetta he had against her for ghosting him.
Ofcom eventually published a report featuring their appraisal of the numerous complaints, in which they stated that Piers Morgan had the right to rigorously scrutinize the account of Duke and Duchess Of Sussex, adding that it would be a chilling restriction on their right to freedom of expression if he hadn’t been allowed to challenge their account.
Crucially, Ofcom’s report did not vindicate his dismissal of her claims to suicide, which was cited by Ofcom themselves as one of the most serious aspect of the complaints they received.
Following a comprehensive assessment of the report, we noted this and pointed it out to Ofcom, and they explicitly agreed that the wording of their report, whilst defending the former presenter’s right to scrutinize the Duke and Duchess Of Sussex, did not to constitute a comprehensive clearance or approval of his comments.
Upon hearing the news that Piers Morgan’s rant had been the most complained about programme this year, Morgan decided to sarcastically thank Meghan Markle after his Good Morning Britain rant topped Ofcom’s complaints list for 2021.
The outspoken broadcaster’s comments about Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sparked 54,595 complaints to the watchdog, making it the most-complained about moment of the year.
Responding to the news, Piers tweeted: ‘Delighted to have perpetrated the most complained about moment on UK TV for 2021…. especially because every single one of the absurd complaints was rejected. Thanks Princess Pinocchio!’
However, Morgan’s comments that everyone of the absurd complaints were rejected was not true, because the complaint about suicide was never rejected by Ofcom.
In this respect, each publication who published Morgan’s claim, published an inaccuracy which was misleading to the public, and which the regulator will examine.
Adam Baxter, Ofcom’s director of Standards and Audience Protection, said: “For me, these volumes demonstrate the British public’s interest and passion for TV and radio programmes, and shows just how important they are to the cultural fabric of our nation.”
He added: “The judgments we make each day are often finely balanced – such as our highest profile case this year: Piers Morgan’s comments on Good Morning Britain in the wake of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“But, given the importance of the right to freedom of expression, we only step in or take action against a broadcaster when we consider it necessary.
“This year we concluded 33 investigations and recorded 20 breaches of our rules. Many of these cases were about hate speech or harmful, scientifically unfounded Coronavirus misinformation.”