Southport
Reporter® is the Registered Trade Mark of Patrick Trollope.
Southport
Reporter®, Formby Reporter™, Mersey Reporter™
& Liverpool Reporter™
OUR
OUT LINE.
AS we are on the internet, this does not make your complaints less
valid should you have one. We will do our best to help you the public as you are the readers and with out you we will not have a newspaper, should any think ever happen. We follow and are governed by the PCC, (see link on under Code of Conduct on left). We also follow the data protection rules and regulations of the UK (see help page).
FOR
your safety and for identification of bona fifed newsgathering staff
and sales staff:-
ALL
OUR STAFF HAVE ID CARDS.
THE CARD HAVE A PHOTO ON AND A VERIFICATION NUMBER. IF
IN DOUBT RING US FIRST, BEFORE LETTING THE REPRESENTATIVE
IN.
PCBT Photography Journalists and Photographers Code of Conduct.
ALL Our members of staff follow the NUJ code of conduct that is as follows:-
1. A journalist has a duty to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards.
2. A journalist shall at all times defend the principle of the freedom of the press and other media in relation to the collection of information and the expression of comment and criticism. He/she shall strive to eliminate distortion, news suppression and censorship.
3. A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information he/she disseminates is fair and accurate, avoid the expression of comment and conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion, selection or misrepresentation.
4. A journalist shall rectify promptly any harmful inaccuracies, ensure that correction and apologies receive due prominence and afford the right of reply to persons criticised when the issue is of sufficient importance.
5. A journalist shall obtain information, photographs and illustrations only by straightforward means. The use of other means can be justified only by overriding considerations of the public interest. The journalist is entitled to exercise a personal conscientious objection to the use of such means.
6. A journalist shall do nothing which entails intrusion into anybody's private life, grief or distress, subject to justification by overriding considerations of the public interest.
7. A journalist shall protect confidential sources of information.
8. A journalist shall not accept bribes nor shall he/she allow other inducements to influence the performance of his/her professional duties.
9. A journalist shall not lend himself/herself to the distortion or suppression of the truth because of advertising or other considerations.
10. A journalist shall mention a person's age, sex, race, colour, creed, illegitimacy, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation only if this information is strictly relevant. A journalist shall neither originate nor process material which encourages discrimination, ridicule, prejudice or hatred on any of the above-mentioned grounds.
11. No journalist shall knowingly cause or allow the publication or broadcast of a photograph that has been manipulated unless that photograph is clearly
labeled as such. Manipulation does not include normal dodging, burning, colour balancing, spotting, contrast adjustment, cropping and obvious masking for legal or safety reasons.
12. A journalist shall not take private advantage of information gained in the course of his/her duties before the information is public knowledge.
13. A journalist shall not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the promotion of his/her own work or of the medium by which he/she is employed.
All freelance photographers and journalists we use also follow the above.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE BEING HARASSED BY A JOURNALIST
WE hope you never have this problem. PCBT Photograsphy takes a very dim view of this and would like to be informed so we can take action. We work under the UK press complaints rules and regulations and our staff follow this to the letter.
1. Get the name of the journalist in question.
2. Ring us 24 hours a day on 01704 513 741. If asked to leave a message please leave your information for attention of the editor or send a letter to us addressed to the editor.
a:- a note of the dates and times that you were approached, along with a brief note of what was said.
b:- a copy of any note that you pinned to your door or any instructions that you left on your answerphone
c:- copies of any letters posted to you by journalists
3. If you are at home and too distressed to answer your door, pin a short note to it to say that you do not wish to speak to journalists and do not want to be disturbed.
4. Similarly, if you are being telephoned repeatedly and do not wish to speak to journalists, alter your answerphone message to say that only personal callers should leave a message as you are not speaking to any journalist.
5. Some people, particularly at times of grief or shock may find it helpful to ask a friend or neighbour to deal with press enquiries. They can then answer your phone and door and either pass on a prepared statement or turn down requests for interviews.
6. If these measures fail and you feel that you are still being harassed, contact the PCC immediately. Should the Commission have to proceed with a formal complaint, a named case officer will be assigned to you with the aim of resolving the matter to your satisfaction. You will be kept informed of the progress of this investigation and if the matter is not resolved satisfactorily, the Commission will decide whether or not the journalist breached the Code.
Sales Staff.
OUR sales staff will try to help in every way they can to make your advert stand out, but we do not
allow them to harass you into taking out adverts with us. If we find out this is going on, let us know via phone or via letter and we will take action. Please use the same number as you would for journalists, again ask for the editor.
