Newspapers must apologise with due prominence

United Kingdom

After publishing an inaccurate article on page 5, the Daily Express buried an apology on page 33. This week the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint that this breached the Editors’ Code of Practice which requires that significant inaccuracies are corrected with “due prominence”.

This highlights two issues. First, when accepting the publication of an apology it is best to agree precisely where in the paper it is to appear. Secondly, the more serious the inaccuracy the more prominence you are entitled to demand.