Press ombudsman receives over 30 complaints in first month

The Office of the Press Ombudsman has received more than 30 complaints in its first month of operation.

The ombudsman's office was formally launched a month ago today. The initial levels of complaints relate only to articles written in newspapers and magazines since January 1st last.

The ombudsman, Prof John Horgan, said the level of interest showed there was "plenty of evidence that there is an appetite out there among people who feel that they'd like to hold particular newspapers or magazines to account".

Prof Horgan said he had received "100 per cent" co-operation from media outlets to date.

"There has been absolutely no problems on that score. If we send them stuff, they get back to us pretty quickly. They have been very much on the ball in relation to that," he said.

The ombudsman's office was set up in response to concerns about the absence of any mechanism for the public to make complaints about articles published about them without recourse to the law courts.

The press council and ombudsman's office is funded by the newspaper industry, but is independent. Prof Horgan's role will be to examine complaints from the public, but only after the person who is complaining has attempted without success to get a satisfactory response from the publication. He will not investigate complaints which are the subject of legal proceedings.

A new code of practice will be the framework against which all complaints are considered.

More difficult cases or those where his rulings are disputed will be referred to the 13-member press council, which will have a lay majority. Publications will have to publish the text of the adjudication made by the ombudsman or the council.

Prof Horgan said he did not know when he was going to make his first adjudication, but he was adopting a six-week deadline from the filing of an initial complaint to see if it could be satisfactorily resolved without him having to publish an adjudication.

"That six-week period effectively starts when we get a formal complaint from somebody. Everybody is on a bit of a learning curve.

"We're testing our procedures. It is terribly important to be absolutely fair to everybody. If that takes a little more time than we thought it would, well it is better to do that and get a reputation for fairness."

He said there was a level of pent-up demand for his services but it related to articles written before Christmas which his office cannot make an adjudication on. He added those who had a grievance before the establishment of the office should contact editors directly and if they do not hear back from them, the office will contact editors on their behalf.