APPENDIX 34
Memorandum submitted by the Media Relations
Manager at Granada Television Ltd
I am writing to you following your announcement
that you are launching an inquiry into the effectiveness of the
Press Complaints Commission and how it deals with privacy.
I am the Media Relations Manager for Granada
Television in the North of England, which means that I am responsible
for press relations for programmes such as Coronation Street,
Emmerdale, Heartbeat, Touch of Frost and At Home with the Braithwaites.
Over the years, myself and my colleagues have built up a constructive
working relationship with the PCC. There is a huge tabloid interest
in our programmes and in a number of our higher profile actors.
From time to time newspapers are tempted to write stories about
their private lives. If they do so this obviously affects more
people than just the actors concerned: in researching stories
journalists often approach their relatives and friends, and often
the story might include references to family members. Even if
they are not mentioned in the piece, often the relatives and friends
of someone are just as emotionally affected by the impact of a
story as the person concerned. It is important to bear this in
mind because when we are able to protect an actor's privacy we
are invariably protecting others as well.
I wanted to make a number of points about my
experience of the PCC:
— We did not really have any dealings
with the PCC until 1998, when we discovered that a tabloid newspaper
had used subterfuge to obtain a true but highly personal story
about a prominent member of the cast of Coronation Street. We
turned to the PCC which gave us specific advice about how to approach
the matter using the Code of Practice to persuade the editor not
to publish the story. I am pleased to say that the advice worked
and no story appeared.
— Shortly afterwards a Sunday tabloid
newspaper did publish intimate details about another actor on
Coronation Street and speculation about his sexuality. He complained
to the PCC and his complaint was upheld. Subsequently, no other
newspaper repeated the intrusive material.
— These two events led us to invite
representatives of the PCC to come to Manchester to talk to press
officers and cast members about how the Code can be used to protect
privacy. They also outline the hazards of using the press for
one's own advantage, for example through selling pictures or information.
This was a very useful occasion and something of a turning point
in our knowledge of the Code of Practice and its uses.
— Since then Granada has made a number
of complaints about intrusion into privacy on behalf of its actors.
One of the complaints, from the actress Jacqueline Pirie, was
something of a landmark in establishing that if private material
is published it must be proportional to the material that someone
has voluntarily put into the public domain. This was because she
had done a number of press interviews and features in the past,
although nothing similar to the sort of material that was published
about her in a Sunday tabloid. Her complaint was upheld and it
has since been useful to use the arguments set out in that adjudication
when dealing with editors.
— When we do make formal complaints
the effect of an upheld adjudication is very satisfying: the rest
of the press seem to respect the decision and do not approach
the subject matter again.
— Aside from the formal complaints
that we have made, we are also in regular contact with the PCC's
staff for advice about how to prevent the Code from being breached.
Our actors also phone them directly for advice as well. A lot
of the issues seem to involve health matters, harassment and photographs
of people in private places and I am quite sure that as a result
of our contact with the Commission many intrusive stories that
would have otherwise appeared have not done so. The peace of mind
that this gives to actors and their families cannot be overestimated.
— On one or two occasions I know that
PCC representatives have liaised directly with the families of
those at the centre of a media story in order to advise them about
their rights under the Code and how to deal with journalists asking
intrusive questions.
— In my view, having dealt with such
matters for over 10 years, the press will always push the boundaries
in their pursuit of storeis. It is increasingly part of our job
to help them to strike the right balance between legitimate publicity
and intrusion into privacy. But over the last four or five years
it has been much easier to use the framework of the Code of Practice
to protect those people who work on our programme and, if things
to do wrong, obtain quickly for them some meaningful redress.
January 2003
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