Susan McKay: Politicians and public can rely on ‘exacting, nuanced, supple’ press code to make complaints
Ireland's Press Ombudsman Susan McKay speaking at the Shared Island Dialogue event in the Convention Centre Dublin. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie
When the High Court in the North, in the strongest terms, struck down a recent defamation case brought by a politician against a freelance journalist, the journalist, Malachi O'Doherty, commented that the court had delivered "a quare slap on the bake" to the litigant and his party. He also spoke of the stress and worry he had gone through during the years it had taken for the case to come to court. The costs would potentially have been ruinous.
You won't get a quare slap on the bake from the Press Ombudsman. Complainants and editors alike will get a swift and thoroughly reasoned response based clearly on the Principles of the Press Council's Code of Practice. There is no charge for using our service, and there will be no hefty bill for either party at the end of the complaints process. Our process is demonstrably in the public interest. It gives people a right to have their say and to be taken seriously. It enables them to hold the press to account, just as the press endeavours to hold those with power in our society to account.
