By Emily Caulkett-
A London newspaper has been exposed for publishing inaccurate news that compromised the private family life of a GP.
Press regulator, Ipso, has criticised My London For Inaccurate Report That Compromised Private Family Life of a GP
The doctor’s complaint sparked a council licence review has succeeded in having his name removed from a news website’s coverage of the public hearing.
The doctor, who has now been anonymised, complained of multiple inaccuracies in the damaging article.
The article had reported hearing that had been held in relation to the licence of a nightclub. It reported that “[a] South London nightclub has had its opening hours slashed after the music was so loud neighbours had to move out of their homes at the weekend” and that “[t]he venue, which is also known as Southbank Nightclub, will only be able to open until 11pm moving forward. Previously, it could hold parties until 5am on weekends”.
The article also stated that “[a] GP and a surgeon said they had to cancel appointments as they were so tired” and named the GP and the surgeon who had been present at the hearing. It went on to state that “One resident [the complainant], who lives three floors above the club, said he had been driven to try and buy a new property outside of Southwark to escape the noise”.
The complainant said that the article was inaccurate in breach of Clause 1 for a number of reasons, stating that the article inaccurately claimed that “A GP and a surgeon said they had to cancel appointments as they were so tired”.
He insisted that those words had not been stated at the hearing and instead it was heard that he was no longer working weekend clinics as a result of the noise.
The complainant further said that the article claimed that “he had been driven to try and buy a new property outside of Southwark to escape the noise” which he said was untrue as he had attempted to sell the property and rent elsewhere, but it was not stated that he was trying to buy a new property.
He also said the article was inaccurate to state that “South London nightclub has had its opening hours slashed” and that “The venue, which is also known as Southbank Nightclub, will only be able to open until 11pm moving forward. Previously, it could hold parties until 5am on weekends”.
The complainant said that while the licence had been amended on review, the pre-existing licence with the longer working hours was still in place pending the outcome of an appeal and that at the time the article was published the nightclub was permitted to operate as per it’s pre-existing licence
MyLondon agreed to remove the GP’s name from its story about the Southwark Council meeting, which had been called following a complaint by his wife.
MyLondon had told the doctor it was entitled to report what had been heard at the hearing, but made the amendment nonetheless in order to resolve the complaint.
Complaining under Clause 1 (Accuracy) and Clause 2 (Privacy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, the doctor considered no respect had been shown to his private, family, or home life, particularly as the story identified the building and the floor he lived on.
In response, MyLondon said it was entitled to report what had been heard at the hearing and was not obliged to seek permission, providing recordings of what had been heard at the hearing.
The recording showed that the doctor had to stop working on weekends due to the noise, but the publication accepted that this did not mean that appointments had been cancelled.
MyLondon amended the story accordingly and published a correction in relation to this point.
Ipso said that because the complaint had been resolved, it did not record a breach of the code against the paper.
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