by Awoken2 on Mon Jul 03, 2017 2:42 pm
I have just got off the phone to the Sun and their response was absolutely staggering.
I get connected to Hannah on the news desk and inform her that I have got some information in relation to the story they ran on 15th June about Pat, the man who allegedly caught a 4 year old child who was thrown from a sixth story window.
The excitement in Hanna's voice raised considerably making it more than obvious that they were still in the dark about Pat's identity. I asked Hannah to get a pen.
I then spelled out the name Oluwaseun Nesky Talabi very slowly ensuring that Hannah had the correct spelling.
Hannah then asks me how I know Olu, was he a personal friend? I replied that I knew him from watching the BBC news coverage as he has done a lot of interviews over the past couple of weeks.
Hannah then said they were aware of Olu but this was NOT the same person that was in their story.
I asked Hannah if she had seen the pictures printed on the Sun's news website on the 15th of June to which she says she hasn't. I then asked Hannah to look at the pictures and compare them to pictures of Olu and I would call back in ten minutes to see if she could see the similarity.
I tried speaking to Hannah a couple of times but she was unavailable for over an hour.
After finally getting through I asked Hannah her opinion. Her response was that although they do look similar they could not be the same person and any similarity was purely coincidental.
I then asked Hanna if I could speak to any of the three reporters or photographer who produced the story as I wanted to ask them where they got their information from. Hannah said this wasn't possible and just because a reporters name is on a story it doesn't necessarily mean they were at the scene at the time.... REALLY?
I then asked about the photographer who took the pictures, Hannah was now sounding a little panicky, the phone goes quite for a moment, I think Hannah is needing some help...
In a nutshell this is the Sun's response.
The information they were given came from a neighbour who knew Pat, they didn't get any other information about the neighbour or any contact details. So the information came from an anonymous third party and this was not verified.
The photographs were not taken by a Sun photographer and were taken by an eye witness who again remains anonymous.
I asked Hannah if it was common practice to print a story with information gained from anonymous and unverified sources and print them as fact as this would be a sure fire way of creating fake news.
Hannah then explains that The Sun take any complaints very seriously and have their own department for anyone who isn't happy with their reporting. I declined to take them up on this offer and instead said I would be contacting IPSO , at this point Hannah hung up!
Fake news at it's very worst!
So, not to be thwarted I decided to go up the food chain and complain to IPSO. Surely they would act?....
So I made an official complaint to IPSO about the ridiculous story printed in the Sun on 12th July. They usually reply within three days. I received this reply today...3 weeks later
"Dear Mr ######
I write further to our earlier email regarding your complaint about an article headlined “HERO OF GRENFELL TOWER Brave man catches four-year-old girl thrown by mum from the 5th floor seconds before flat was engulfed in flames” published by thesun.co.uk on 15 June 2017.
On receipt of a complaint, IPSO’s Executive reviews it to ensure that it falls within our remit and raises a possible breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice. The Executive has now completed an assessment of your complaint under the terms of the Code. Having considered the points you have raised in full, we have concluded that your complaint does not raise a possible breach of the Editors’ Code.
We noted your concern that the report and the photo captions referred to a man as “Pat”, when you understood his name was Oluwaseun Nesky Talabi, in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy). IPSO is able to consider complaints from an individual who has been personally and directly affected by the alleged breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice; complaints from a representative group affected by an alleged breach where there is a substantial public interest; and complaints from third parties about accuracy. In the case of third party complaints, we will need to consider the position of the party most closely involved. In this instance, the concerns you raised under this Clause relate directly to identity of the man in the photograph. Since you are not acting on his behalf with his knowledge and consent, we were unable to consider this aspect of your complaint further.
You told us you were also concerned that the photographs might breach Clause 1 (Accuracy) because you doubted their authenticity. While we understood that you were dissatisfied with the conversation you had with the Sun about the verification of photographs in general, your complaint did not provide grounds for finding that these photographs were not of incident described in the article.
Finally, you were concerned that the report might breach Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock) because the story had no credibility and was a sensational story at a time when people were still in shock about a tragedy. The terms of this Clause are designed to protect those directly affected by grief or shock. As we explained above, when we receive third party complaints, we consider the position of the party most closely involved. In this instance, the concerns you raised under this Clause relate directly to those that have lost friends and family in the Grenfell fire. Since you are not acting on behalf someone directly affected by the fire, with their knowledge and consent, we were unable to consider this aspect of your complaint further.
You are entitled to request that the Executive’s decision to reject your complaint be reviewed by IPSO’s Complaints Committee. To do so you will need to write to us in the next seven days, setting out the reasons why you believe the decision should be reviewed. Please note that we are unable to accept requests for review made seven days after the date of this email.
We would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider the points you have raised, and have shared this correspondence with the newspaper to make it aware of your concerns.
Best wishes,
Catherine Thomas
cc thesun.co.uk"
So in summary I can only question Oluwasean Talabi's identity if I'm acting on his behalf or have to have his permission to do so.
And unless you've been "directly affected" by a story you are not permitted to question it's authenticity.
It's a strange response because at no point was I ever asked if I had any connections to any Grenfell Tower survivors so their entire response was based on an assumption on their part.
I can feel another complaint coming on...
So on we go....
Dear Sir/Madam
I wish to have the Executives decision to reject my complaint reviewed for the following reasons.
Your response to my first point is based on an assumption that I am a third party who was not personally and directly affected by the alleged breach of the Editor's Code of Practice.
How did you come to this conclusion without asking me if I had been directly and personally affected?
In 1973, 44 years ago to this day I was at Summerland in the Isle of Man when a devastating fire broke out which killed many people, I managed to escape with my family that night but since then have a major phobia about fires and people being trapped.
I also have a good friend who teaches in Kensington and one of his pupils has not returned to class and is still unaccounted for. They were also deeply disturbed about the Sun's story and they have also supported my complaint.
The Sun's story about "Pat" who caught a child thrown from a fifth storey window is completely fabricated.
I spoke to Hannah on the Sun's newsdesk about this and she said that the information they were given came from an unidentified and unverified source.
The photographs used in the article were pictures of Oluwasean Talabi. The reason why I know this is because Mr Talabi himself has admitted that the Sun made the story up and used his pictures so how can this not be a direct breach of your code of Practice?
Am I then correct to assume by your response that a newspaper can print any story it wishes without any factual basis as long as the person in the story does not complain themselves?
Would this scenario not make your complaints process totally innefective if the person in question was in collusion with the newspaper to help create a sensationalist storyline?
The story which was put out to the public was false and the subtitles under the photographs were also false. If this isn't a clear breach of your Code of Conduct then what is exactly?
The fact that my complaint was not investigated because I didn't "qualify" is not acceptable and the fact that you didn't even question the Sun about this ridiculous and highly offensive article is even more upsetting.
I would like this matter to be looked at again without prejudice.
And here is their laughable response ...
Dear Mr #####$
The Complaints Committee has considered your complaint, the email of 27 July 2017 from IPSO’s Executive notifying you of its view that your complaint did not raise a possible breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice, and your email of 2 August 2017 requesting a review of the Executive’s decision.
The Committee acknowledged that you have been affected by the article. However, under the terms of the Editors’ Code, to take forward a third party complaint under Clause 1 (Accuracy), the Committee must consider the individual about whom the alleged inaccuracy most directly affects. In this instance, the Committee decided that the alleged inaccuracies in your complaint related directly to the man identified in the article, and it would not be possible or appropriate for us to investigate the complaint without his input. As such, the Committee declined to re-open your complaint.
We refer to the guidance published on our website in relation to this matter:
https://www.ipso.co.uk/make-a-complaint/.
The Committee would like to thank you for giving it the opportunity to consider your concerns.
Best wishes,
Lauren Sloan
....If this sorry saga doesn't prove that our news is fake I don't know what does.