PCC Notes “Wobble” In Online Journalism

Falls in the quality of online journalism have been noted by the Press Complaints Commission, reports Press Gazette.

Speaking at the launch of the PCC’s annual report, chairman Sir Christopher Meyer said the regulatory organisation has seen some declines in standards of online reporting during the past year.

“We’ve noticed some wobble in standards in areas of online reporting where it’s clear the pressure of time and the 24-hour news cycle may have led people to put up stories which haven’t been thoroughly vetted,” said Sir Christopher.

Speaking in response to a query about the impact of editorial job losses on news output, Sir Christopher also asserted that the PCC will be keeping a check on standards in the future.

“If we do notice something which appears to be linked to some of the hollowing-out that’s going on in the industry, I’m sure we would say something.

“It’s part of our remit to keep standards high.”

The PCC annual report for 2008 revealed that it received almost 4700 complaints during the course of the year, more than half of which were related to stories published online.