Law and the Media, 4th Edition

17 Professional Regulatory Bodies

Tom Cassels

17.1 Introduction

There are numerous occasions where a person has a valid complaint about something that has been published or broadcast about him, but has no recourse to the law. For example, articles can be distressingly inaccurate but not in a way that gives the subject of the story a legal cause of action. There are other occasions where the subject of a feature has a right to sue, but either cannot afford to do so or prefers to avoid the aggravation of litigation.

In such cases an alternative avenue of complaint is provided by the Press Complaints Commission in respect of newspapers, and the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Independent Television Commission and the Radio Authority in respect ...