26 January 2001 – Credit where credit is due: Mirror editor Piers Morgan has come out on the side of the angels and launched a readers’ corrections column. The Mirror thus becomes only the second national newspaper in the UK to run such a feature – The Guardian has had one since 1997 – and the first tabloid.

It was an eerie feeling to read the following quote from Mr Morgan in the Press Gazette: “There’s a lot of cynicism among the public towards tabloid journalism. We’re big enough to admit we make mistakes and errors which are inevitable given the speed of newspaper production. Rather than avoid the issue, we’ve decided to embrace it and make a virtue of it. It’ll develop a better bond with our readership and may dilute legal problems.

“People usually don’t want to take legal action and if there are genuine mistakes that can be corrected quickly, we can be upfront about it and avoid legal wrangles where we might dig our heels in.”

Which is exactly what PressWise has been telling editors around the country for years and years. The inability of editors to say ‘sorry’ and print a simple correction is a constant source of pain for our clients. At best it leads to often fruitless and time-wasting approaches to the Press Complaints Commission; at worst it makes the lawyers rich.

So well done Mr. Morgan. Now, who will be next? It may be too much to expect of The Sun, but what about The Times, The Telegraph or The Independent? Or do they never make mistakes?

(Bulletin No 36)