Ms Jo Margetson complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, which reported that she had been the subject of a lewd remark in an incident involving an airport scanner, contained inaccuracies.
Ms Margetson said she had originally complained to her employer about the misuse of body scanner equipment (which had been used to image her without her knowledge or consent) not about lewd comments (though she was not allowed to clarify precise details). The incident had taken place when the complainant was, unknowingly, in a position whereby her body was viewable by the scanner.
In particular, the article included a quote (originally reported by The Sun) attributed to the complainant. Ms Margetson denied the accuracy of the quote and said it had been falsely attributed to her in circumstances where she refused to comment to The Sun journalist. Indeed, the complainant made clear she had not sought to give her story to the media and had not accepted any payment for information.
After the PCC initiated and concluded an investigation, the newspaper, which had followed up the original story in the Sun, agreed to remove the article from its website.
COMPLAINANT NAME: Ms Jo Margetson
CLAUSES NOTED: 1, 3, 4
PUBLICATION: Daily Mail
COMPLAINT:
Ms Jo Margetson complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, which reported that she had been the subject of a lewd remark in an incident involving an airport scanner, contained inaccuracies. Ms Margetson said she had originally complained to her employer about the misuse of body scanner equipment (which had been used to image her without her knowledge or consent) not about lewd comments (though she was not allowed to clarify precise details). The incident had taken place when the complainant was, unknowingly, in a position whereby her body was viewable by the scanner. The complainant made clear she had not sought to give her story to the media and had not accepted any payment for information.
The complainant said that the article also constituted an invasion of her private life because of the level of detail it contained (although she acknowledged that the story had originally appeared in another newspaper, against which she had also take action). In addition, she complained that a reporter from the newspaper had harassed her by persisting in his attempts to contact her after she had asked him to desist in his attentions.
RESOLUTION:
After the PCC initiated an investigation, the newspaper, which had followed up the original story in another newspaper, agreed to remove the article from its online archive. It also removed a subsequent article, which was only published online, when the complainant drew the PCC's attention to it.
One of the newspaper's editorial executives wrote personally to the complainant to apologise for the distress that had been caused by the approach of the reporter, who he agreed had been over-zealous. The newspaper also made an ex-gratia payment to the complainant.
DATE PUBLISHED: 9 December 2010
COMPLAINANT NAME: Ms Jo Margetson
CLAUSES NOTED: 1
PUBLICATION: The Daily Telegraph
COMPLAINT:
Ms Jo Margetson complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, which reported that she had been harassed by a colleague (and which was based on an initial report in the Sun), contained a comment she had not made.
RESOLUTION:
The newspaper, which said it had published the piece in good faith, agreed to remove the article from its website after being contacted by the PCC. The complaint was resolved on this basis.
DATE PUBLISHED: 19/05/2010
COMPLAINANT NAME: Ms Jo Margetson
CLAUSES NOTED: 1, 3
PUBLICATION: Evening Standard
COMPLAINT:
Ms Jo Margetson complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, which reported that she had been the subject of a lewd remark in an incident involving an airport scanner, contained inaccuracies. Ms Margetson said she had originally complained to her employer about the misuse of body scanner equipment (which had been used to image her without her knowledge or consent) not about lewd comments (though she was not allowed to clarify precise details). The incident had taken place when the complainant was, unknowingly, in a position whereby her body was viewable by the scanner.
In particular, the article included a quote (originally reported by The Sun) attributed to the complainant. Ms Margetson denied the accuracy of the quote and said it had been falsely attributed to her in circumstances where she refused to comment to The Sun journalist. Indeed, the complainant made clear she had not sought to give her story to the media and had not accepted any payment for information.
RESOLUTION:
After the PCC initiated an investigation, the newspaper, which had followed up the original story in the Sun, agreed to remove the article from its website. The complaint was resolved on this basis.
DATE PUBLISHED: 16 July 2010
COMPLAINANT NAME: Ms Jo Margetson v Press Association
CLAUSES NOTED: 1, 3
PUBLICATION: Press Association
COMPLAINT:
Ms Jo Margetson complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, which reported that she had been the subject of a lewd remark in an incident involving an airport scanner, contained inaccuracies. Ms Margetson said she had originally complained to her employer about the misuse of body scanner equipment (which had been used to image her without her knowledge or consent) not about lewd comments (though she was not allowed to clarify precise details). The incident had taken place when the complainant was, unknowingly, in a position whereby her body was viewable by the scanner. The complainant made clear she had not sought to give her story to the media and had not accepted any payment for information.
RESOLUTION:
After the PCC initiated an investigation, the agency, which had followed up the original story in the Sun, apologised to the complainant for any mistakes its copy had contained. It also took note of the complainant's account (above) of what had actually happened during the incident. The complaint was resolved on this basis.
DATE PUBLISHED: 16 July 2010
COMPLAINANT NAME: Ms Jo Margetson v The Guardian
CLAUSES NOTED: 1, 3
PUBLICATION: The Guardian
COMPLAINT:
Ms Jo Margetson complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, which reported that she had been the subject of a lewd remark in an incident involving an airport scanner, contained inaccuracies. Ms Margetson said she had originally complained to her employer about the misuse of body scanner equipment (which had been used to image her without her knowledge or consent) not about lewd comments (though she was not allowed to clarify precise details). The incident had taken place when the complainant was, unknowingly, in a position whereby her body was viewable by the scanner.
In particular, the article included a quote (originally reported by The Sun) attributed to the complainant. Ms Margetson denied the accuracy of the quote and said it had been falsely attributed to her in circumstances where she refused to comment to The Sun journalist. Indeed, the complainant made clear she had not sought to give her story to the media and had not accepted any payment for information.
RESOLUTION:
After the PCC initiated an investigation, the newspaper, which had followed up the original story in the Sun, agreed to amend the online version of its article to make clear that the incident had not taken place as a result of the complainant mistakenly walking through the scanner. It also agreed to remove a quote that the complainant disputed having said. The complaint was resolved on this basis.
DATE PUBLISHED: 16 July 2010
COMPLAINANT NAME: Ms Jo Margetson
CLAUSES NOTED: 1, 3
PUBLICATION: Daily Star
COMPLAINT:
Ms Jo Margetson complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article, which reported that she had been the subject of a lewd remark in an incident involving an airport scanner, contained inaccuracies. Ms Margetson said she had originally complained to her employer about the misuse of body scanner equipment (which had been used to image her without her knowledge or consent) not about lewd comments (though she was not allowed to clarify precise details). The incident had taken place when the complainant was, unknowingly, in a position whereby her body was viewable by the scanner.
In particular, the article included a quote (originally reported by The Sun) attributed to the complainant. Ms Margetson denied the accuracy of the quote and said it had been falsely attributed to her in circumstances where she refused to comment to The Sun journalist. Indeed, the complainant made clear she had not sought to give her story to the media and had not accepted any payment for information.
RESOLUTION:
After the PCC initiated an investigation, the newspaper, which had followed up the original story in the Sun, agreed to remove the article from its website. The complaint was resolved on this basis.
DATE PUBLISHED: 16 July 2010