Complaint
A reader of this online article complained that it gave the misleading impression that the Government review it reported on applied to the UK as a whole, whereas it did not extend to Northern Ireland. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 麻豆社鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
After being altered in response to the initial complaint, the relevant part of the article reads 鈥淢inisters said they wanted to modernise the system across paternity, maternity and shared parental leave in Britain鈥. Although 鈥淏谤颈迟补颈苍鈥 may be defined as meaning the island consisting of England, Scotland and Wales, in the ECU鈥檚 observation it may also be understood as a synonym for the UK. In any event, it is a term which leaves at least some room for doubt as to the entity it denotes. In this instance it was followed a few lines later by reference to a comment by a committee of MPs on 鈥渢he UK鈥檚 parental leave system鈥, which seemed to the ECU to resolve that doubt in favour of the whole UK, thus conveying the inaccurate impression complained of.
Upheld