By James Simons-
The press regulator has rapped The Daily Express for publishing inaccurate information after a complainant complained about this misinformation.
Tim Partlett complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that express.co.uk breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an article headlined “Britain will be BETTER OFF after Brexit: Poll shows businesses BRIMMING with confidence”, published on 12 August 2018. The complaint was upheld and express.co.uk has been required to publish this ruling as a remedy to the breach of the Code.
The article reported that a poll, commissioned by a group that represents businesses in the maritime industry, found that most of its members “feel Britain would become stronger after Brexit”. The complainant disputed the poll , saying that the poll had found no such thing, and the publication had distorted its finding.
Express.co.uk argued that the author was entitled to interpret the poll as he saw fit, and had relied on a press release from the business group who had conducted the poll. It said that the article was not a misleading report of the poll.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
IPSO found that headline, sub-headline first line of the article had made categorical claims of fact about the findings of the poll which were not supported by the poll data. The publication had failed to take care in reporting the findings of the poll and had given a significantly inaccurate account of its conclusions, in breach of Clause 1.
The ruling by Ipso calls on the publication to take due care when publishing articles, instead of rushing to conclusions that suit their beliefs. Recently, The Daily Express Online were recently caught publishing fabricated comments in addition to quotes of a relationship expert which the expert eventually said she had not made. The Eye Of Media.Com contacted the publication to query the fabricated quotes, and asked to speak to the author of the article, but she was not available at the time. We were promised she would call back, but she never did.
The Express must pay special attention to its level of accuracy in order to report stories honourably. It must be said that one or two cases of inaccurate reporting does not mean all of its reporting is inaccurate. However, it does question the integrity and level of care given to articles before they are published.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar