(not satire – it’s the UK gutter press)
UPDATE: you can see the Mail’s reply – including veiled threats – here.
Mr Paul Dacre
Chair of the Editor’s Code of Practice
‘Independent’ Press Standards Organisation
Dear Mr Dacre,
I am writing to you in your position as chairman of the Editor’s Code of Practice to complain about you in your position as editor of the Daily Mail.
Specifically I am writing to complain about an article you commissioned in your own newspaper, the Daily Mail, in which you and your newspaper grossly maligned and bullied two young children, aged 3 and 6 years old.
Although the children’s faces were (poorly) blanked out in your article, the full identity of their parents was revealed so the identities of the two children were in effect not kept secret.
I therefore believe the article was a gross intrusion into the children’s right to privacy and could have a detrimental affect on their education, home life and health.
The following article (which your newspaper has now removed) published on the 30th November 2014, breached several parts of the Editor’s Code of Practice – a body you yourself (bizarrely) chair:
It has been confirmed by the struggling parents who were targeted by you in your article that your colleagues at the Sun newspaper used subterfuge and lies to trick the two children and their parents into inviting reporters into their home and allowing them to take photographs.
You, the Daily Mail and your colleagues over at the Sun newspaper then printed a grossly distorted article attacking, maligning and bullying the two young children and their parents.
Because subterfuge, lies and distortion were used to gain consent from the parents of these children, the subsequent article you printed in your own newspaper breached at least 8 paragraphs of your own code.
Your own article breaks codes 1i and 1iii of your own code of conduct:
i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.
iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
And it breaks code 3i of your own code of conduct:
i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications
And it breaks codes 4i and 4iii of your own code of conduct:
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
iii) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.
And it breaks codes 6i and v of your own code of conduct:
i) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.
v) Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child’s private life.
And it breaks code 10ii of your own code of conduct:
ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means
I fully expect you to have a strong word with yourself and your colleagues at the Daily Mail and the Sun, have a good laugh about it, and then carry on bullying struggling British families while you go on living your opulent lifestyles and going on your expensive holidays as if nothing has happened.
I have also copied this letter to your puppets at the IPSO so they can also pretend to be seen to be doing something about it.
Yours in disgust,
Thomas Pride
Pride’s Purge
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I’ll let you know if I get a reply.
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Please feel free to share. And comment.
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The Coalition Government Colouring and Activity Book is now available for download as a PDF and in print:
Bollards said:
Mr Paul Dacre has ruled that the article by Mr Paul Dacre was fair and balanced. It was actually deleted by accident and NOT because it was deeply offensive in any way.
Mr Paul Dacre is renowned for his excellent judgement, as was seen when he also ruled that the article by a Mr Paul Dacre about the deceased father of a Mr Edward Miliband was also fair and balanced, so much so that the insinuation was repeated by same Mr Paul Dacre, even though the majority of the country mistakenly thought it was actually a sickening character assassination designed to undermine the leader of the opposition.
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Ann, taylor said:
They are the gutter press,trying to dig dirt now on any of the newera4all residents how low can they go.93 families to be evicted for greed.the Sun and Mail for the people I don,t think so,for Murdoch and greed.
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Horselover Fat said:
Reblogged this on My Little Underground and commented:
Anyone buying The Daily Mail or The Sun should read this, have a word with their concince and not just stop buying those rags, but pass this on to someone else who buys them and another person and another til people stop buying them, or clicking on their sites.
The only way to hurt these people is through the pocket.
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Jeffery Davies said:
Nice one tp jeff3
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stilloaks said:
Reblogged this on Still Oaks.
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jaynel62 said:
Well Done – wish I’d thought of it xx
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cliver1 said:
Paul Dacre must be someone with no moral compass at all.
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sdbast said:
Reblogged this on sdbast.
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l8in said:
Reblogged this on L8in.
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nugnug2 said:
how do the dailt mail keep finding out whos on benfits and who isnt you ant do that leggay.
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jandwhorler@talktalk.net said:
Hey Tom I want you to know that your e-mails help keep me sane, well
nearly! I’ve been campaigning for Keep Our NHS Public and Campaign
against the Arms Trade for the last few years, so I’ve gradually become
demoralised by my increased awareness of the level of corruption in
politics and the media. Seeing these bastards regularly hounded by you
really raises my spirits!
Keep it coming!
All the best
Wendy Horler
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ladyfreebird750 said:
Reblogged this on Ladyfreebird750's Blog and commented:
I wonder how The Mail and Sun would have reported the birth of Jesus if they had been in print two thousand years ago.. Oh wait, I can imagine it..
The Sun of course would run the story first because 99% of the articles the Mail print have already been in another rag first..
They would report how Nigel Herod was unhappy about all the immigrants coming into Bethlehem dropping kids in stables, draining the resources from both workers and kings……
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beastrabban said:
Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog and commented:
This is Tom Pride’s complaint to Paul Dacre about his newspaper’s conduct in running a story about an unemployed couple, who spent £1,500 on Christmas for their two children. Mr Pride points out how the article broke several clauses of the very code Dacre, in his capacity as chairman of the new press regulatory body, is pledged to uphold. Most significant is the clause that stipulates that children’s identities should not be revealed. This is one of the major requirements of journalistic ethics. It is why the identities of child criminals are hidden, with the exception of cases where a judge rules that the law may be lifted, and why the identities of the victims of paedophiles are also never revealed. Yet Dacre’s organ has blatantly flouted this in order to run yet another feature reassuring his bilious, insecure and spiteful lower middle class readers that those on benefits are all scroungers overpaid by the state. Clearly, Dacre should not be head of the body, as his very occupation of the position turns it into a laughing stock.
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pictishbeastie said:
Reblogged this on pictishbeastie.
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concernedkev said:
The ghost of Lord Rothermere (circa 1930s) still stalks the editorial room of the Mail. His support for the then United Empire Party has echoes of today. Then the support for Oswald Moseley and his Blackshirts in 1933 transcends the decades to the present.
Rothermeres support then for Mussolini and Hitler is just below the surface now waiting for the maybe Purpleshits of Farage’s army with the bully boys of the BNP and EDL storm troopers hiding not too far in the background. They are just awaiting the clarion call of Mr Dacre and Murdoch as modern day propagandists. As then the lower middle classes and the lumpen Sun readers who can not think for themselves have had their minds poisoned. One thing you can’t do Mr Dacre is delete history.
Your attack on Ralph Miliband was your equivalent of Rothermere’s Zinoviev Letter a pathetic attempt at Reds under the bed. Nothing changes at the Dirty Mail.
The one thing that has changed is the use of social media which can reach into the hearts and minds of decent people, who when stick comes to lift, will defeat your vile attempt at propping up a system that has had it’s day.
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A6er said:
Reblogged this on Britain Isn't Eating.
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nedhamson said:
Reblogged this on Ned Hamson Second Line View of the News and commented:
The Sultans of Shame and Sham are at it again – Plumbing the depths of non-news and feeding petty hatreds.
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Pingback: Dark threats from Daily Mail after I dare to complain about one of their articles | Pride's Purge
snowbunnie1980 said:
Reblogged this on justagirlinbton and commented:
How wonderful that the daily fail continues its factual reporting
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Mark Catlin said:
Reblogged this on markcatlin3695's Blog.
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