Adjudication No. 846 (March 1996) [1996] APC 20

ADJUDICATION NO. 846 (March 1996)

The Council has upheld a complaint against The Daily Telegraph Mirror over its use of the headline, "FIREBOMBED", on a page one story about a fatal house fire.

The newspaper ran the headline on 20 November and Geoff Patterson complains it was not supported by the contents of the story, and was irresponsible and misleading.

The Daily Telegraph Mirror replied:

"It is true that subsequent investigations indicated to police that the fire was not the result of an arson attack, but we could not reasonably have been expected to know that in advance ....

"... on November 21, police sources confirmed that the fire had not been set by an arsonist [and] we duly reported that information."

The Press Council's principle 2 indicates a newspaper has an obligation to take all reasonable steps to ensure the truth of its statements. The absolute headline assertion of a firebombing was not supported in the article.

The Press Council observes that The Daily Telegraph Mirror story itself was accurate and it published an article on 22 November which reported a police statement that the fire "was not caused by a firebomb as was initially suspected".

However, the Council believes the 20 November heading would have led many casual readers to believe the house was firebombed.