View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
April 26, 2001updated 17 May 2007 11:30am

Paper guilty of suicide harrassment, says PCC

By Press Gazette

A weekly newspaper was wrong to persist in trying to get an interview with the family of a teenage girl who killed herself, the Press Complaints Commission has ruled.

It upheld a complaint against the Bucks Herald that one of its reporters had harassed the family of the 16-year-old girl.

In its adjudication, the PCC said it wanted to make clear it was not ruling that the paper should not have run an article, headlined "Girl found hanged", about the teenager’s suicide. "Indeed, the commission recognises the legitimacy of researching and writing about such tragedies which are clearly in the public interest," it said.

The mother and father of the girl told the PCC that they were approached by the reporter two days after their daughter had committed suicide and asked whether they wanted a tribute to appear in the local paper. They declined, and said they would contact the paper if they changed their minds.

They maintained that the reporter called at least four times over the next few days.

The Editors’ Code at its heart is designed to protect the vulnerable

Content from our partners
AI challenge asks journalists to pitch for help to solve industry challenges
Newsrooms 2.0: Why WordPress is taking over the industry
Handelsblatt's key strategy for unifying print and digital operations

The editor said the complainants had indicated to the journalist that they did want to have a tribute published but not at that time. She therefore called again the following day, when there was a deadline, and, having not been told to go away and not come back, returned one more time the same day just before the deadline.

The editor told the PCC that his journalists knew not to return to a home once it was made clear that a family did not want to talk.

In its adjudication, the PCC said: "The commission recognises the difficulty for journalists in seeking information when the background to a story is of such a tragic nature, and that it can often be difficult to judge the impact of a particular approach on the recently bereaved.

"The Editors’ Code at its heart, however, is designed to protect the vulnerable and the commission will consider whether it is applied in spirit as well as to the letter.

"In this case, regardless of whether the complainants had explicitly told the journalist that she should leave and not return to their house, the commission considered that common sense should have indicated that the repeated approaches over a short period of time were not appropriate."

The PCC ruled that approaches by the paper to other people about the suicide did not breach the code, but it said it could understand why the family found such approaches "insensitive".

by Jon Slattery

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network