July 19, 2005

NEWS: Inaccurate news article 'intruded into 14-year-old's private life' (UK)

Inaccurate news article 'intruded into 14-year-old's private life'
By HoldtheFrontPage staff

A weekly newspaper has been criticised by the Press Complaints Commission for intruding into the private life of a 14-year-old girl and running an inaccurate story about her health.

The Medway Kent Messenger reported on an event that was being organised to raise money for a 16-year-old boy and his 14-year-old cousin to go to Florida.

The article told how both teenagers were 'seriously ill', had spent their lives 'in and out of hospital', and that the girl suffered from a muscle-wasting disease - when the girl actually suffered from a far less serious condition and had never spent a night in hospital.

FULL ARTICLE ON THE "HoldTheFrontPage" WEBSITE AT:
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/day/code/050719mes.shtml 

PCC CODE OF PRACTICE: http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/cop.asp

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Chris Schuepp
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