4 UK News Outlets Publish Quote with Man who said he didn't know he was talking to a reporter - iMediaEthics

iMediaEthics publishes international media ethics news stories and investigations into journalism ethics lapses.

Menu

Home » Apologies & Retractions»

Four UK news outlets unpublished a man’s name after he said he didn’t know he was being interviewed.

The source, Abi Osinyemi, complained to the UK press regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation over articles from This Is Local London, MyLondon.News, YourLocalGuardian, and the Croydon Guardian. Newsquest Media owns all but MyLondon.News, which is owned by Reach PLC.

In question was an Oct. story about the area of Croydon, which quoted numerous residents or workers from the area. Osinyemi said the reporter approached him saying “the Council wanted to hear people’s thoughts and experiences because they wanted to take steps to improve the area” and he didn’t know she was a reporter and wouldn’t have spoken to her if he had known. He said he then contacted the reporter after publication and asked her to take his quotes out.

All four outlets stood by their reports, with the Newsquest Media outlets saying it got the article from a “reliable syndicate.” The Newquest outlets agreed to remove Osinyemi’s name from the article and leave his quotes to resolve his complaint.

The Reach PLC-owned news outlet, MyLondon.News, however defended its article by pointing to the reporter’s notes, which iMediaEthics notes doesn’t address the issue of how the reporter identified herself.

Ultimately, Reach PLC’s MyLondon.News agreed to unpublish the quotes “as a gesture of goodwill,” IPSO reported. As such all four complaints were resolved when the man’s name was at least removed from the article.

Reach PLC declined to comment to iMediaEthics. iMediaEthics has written to Newsquest.

Submit a tip / Report a problem

4 UK News Outlets Publish Quote with Man who said he didn’t know he was talking to a reporter

Share this article:

Comments Terms and Conditions

  • We reserve the right to edit/delete comments which harass, libel, use coarse language and profanity.
  • We moderate comments especially when there is conflict or negativity among commenters.
  • Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *