rejected a complaint on behalf of a serving police officer about published comments in The People that he had made on Facebook about the death of Ian Tomlinson during the London G20 protests.

The article reported that the police officer had posted a message which said: “I see my lot have murdered someone again. Oh well, shit happens”. The complainant argued that publication of this comment – plus that of comments from two other social networking profiles – intruded into his privacy, as the profiles in question were not publicly accessible. The newspaper said that the comments had been drawn to its attention by a third party who was an online ‘friend’ of the complainant, as had one of the newspaper’s journalists whom the complainant had briefly accepted as a friend. In addition, it argued, there was a strong public interest in publication, as it showed how serving police officers viewed high-profile incidents such as the death of Mr. Tomlinson.

The Commission agreed with the newspaper that publication on this occasion could be justified by the public interest. Given that the death of Mr. Tomlinson had been “the subject of considerable media and public scrutiny”, there was, it said, a “clear public interest in knowing about police attitudes (whether publicly or privately expressed) towards the incident”. It also highlighted the element of risk that the complainant had taken in posting such comments to people who were “not obliged to keep the information secret”.

A complaint under Clause 3 (Privacy) about the publication of photographs taken of the complainant were also rejected. Further complaints made under Clause 1 (Accuracy) and Clause 10 (Subterfuge) were found not be in breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice.

To read the adjudication, click here.

As far as we’re aware, it’s the first time an undergraduate has given a paper to the AJE. It comes at a pivotal time for journalism education, when the newspaper industry is in turmoil and there is no widespread agreement on the type of skills a journalism graduate should have.

Josh, editor of InJournalism magazine, also hosts forums for journalism students and educators at CollegeJourn every Sunday at 8pm. Join in the debate.

The Echo’s ‘Keep Wearside Working’ campaign and the Journal’s ‘Think north east First’ have both raised the profile of the local media’s role in generating support and investment for regional businesses.

Last night, the Newcastle branch of Nocci was launched too, supporting collaboration in the creative industries. Ex-Sunderland journalism student, Chloe, was there, now working as a copywriter for the organising agency, the B Group, and their project B-Daily.info for which she writes is a prime example of the business interest that these two campaigns support.

However, it’s not all without controversy. We’d be interested in your thoughts — bearing in mind the furore over the ‘imported workers‘ going on at the moment, what do you think of the Journal’s ‘think north east First’ campaign?

(h/t to Roy Greenslade for the links)

Public health warning. Finish your breakfast before watching.

Posted by Philip