The Press Complaints Commission has reported a 31% rise in complaints during 2007.
The self-regulatory body received 4,320 complaints last year, including 485 complaints about a Daily Mirror comment piece on the McCanns, and 143 complaints about Heat magazine’s decision to include an offensive sticker of the model Katie Price’s son Harvey.
The PCC said that even without these two items the total number of complaints would have been the highest to date, attributing the rise to its greater visibility, the extension of its remit to include video material on press websites, and increased public confidence in the Commission.
Sir Christopher Meyer, the PCC Chairman said:
“We placed an increased emphasis in 2007 on sorting out problems before publication, which could otherwise have led to a formal complaint. This included in particular deploying our anti-harassment service and dispersing media scrums.”
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