Press Complaints Commission - The Code of Practice

The Code of Practice

Any member of the public, whether a relative unknown or a high-profile figure, is able to bring a complaint against a publication that had volunteered to meet the standards of the Code. Members of the Commission adjudicate whether the Code has indeed been broken, and, if so, suggest appropriate measures of correction. These have included the printing of a factual correction, an apology or letters from the original complainant. The Commission does not impose financial penalties on newspapers found to have broken the Code.

Many publishers have added clauses to the contracts of editors of newspapers and magazines giving them the option to dismiss editors who are judged to have breached the PCC Code of Practice. The PCC and its adherents claim that by attaching personal significance to the role of the PCC in the editors' mind, its role has become more effective.

The section titles of the code of practice on which judgements are made are as follows:

  1. Accuracy
  2. Opportunity to reply
  3. Privacy
  4. Harassment
  5. Intrusion into grief or shock
  6. Children
  7. Children in sex cases
  8. Hospitals
  9. Reporting of crime
  10. Misrepresentation
  11. Victims of sexual assault
  12. Discrimination
  13. Financial journalism
  14. Confidential sources
  15. Witness payments in criminal trials
  16. Payment to criminals

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