Press Council: Media must correct errors immediately and transparently
Published: Wednesday, May 29th 2024, 11:21
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Media must correct errors in reporting "without delay" and, in particular in the case of more serious errors, make transparent what was wrong. The Press Council has partially approved a complaint against the online portal Kath.ch, as it announced on Wednesday.
In an October 2022 report on the competitor website Swiss-cath.ch, the portal of the Catholic Media Center had confused two people, including its editor-in-chief. The latter filed a complaint with the Press Council because the editor had not corrected the error correctly.
The Press Council considered the obligations to truth and correction to have been violated. In its statement, it set out how corrections should be made correctly. They must be made immediately and transparently. In addition, the change must be pointed out directly in the text.
It must be clear what was wrong and what is now correct. Authors must point out the change directly in the text and not just state the correct facts without comment in the text itself.
Last year, the Press Council dealt with a total of 104 complaints, 10 more than in the previous year. According to the self-regulatory body for media ethics issues, identifying reporting in particular repeatedly gives rise to complaints. In its annual report, the Presidium called for non-identifying reporting even in the case of serious crimes.
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