Scottish local newspaper in landmark complaints ruling

A SCOTTISH local newspaper has become the first publication to have images on its website adjudicated by the Press Complaints Commission, which has upheld a complaint made against it.

Says the PCC: “The newspaper reported that a 16 year-old student had filmed her unruly mathematics class at school on her mobile phone in order to explain poor results to her parents.

“The article included still images from the video, in which fellow pupils and the teacher could be identified.

“The newspaper also published the moving images, unedited, on its website.”

The PCC considered the story to be “clearly a matter of public interest and that it was entirely legitimate for the paper to bring conditions in the classroom to public attention, and to use – at least in part – the information contained in the video”.