UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Chris Elliott
Two recent complaints about the Guardian’s reporting of historical sexual abuse allegations illustrate the difficulties and pitfalls facing journalists writing about such cases. The first concerned the settlement by the Church of England of a civil claim brought against George Bell, the late bishop of Chichester, who died 57 years ago.
The story, headlined “Church’s ‘deep sorrow’ over abuse by bishop”, published on 23 October 2015 said: “The bishop abused a young child, whose identity and gender has not been disclosed, in the 1940s and 50s. The survivor first came forward 20 years ago, but the matter was not investigated or referred to police at the time.”
There was also an online story published on 22 October with the headline “Church of England Bishop George Bell abused young child”.
Peter Hitchens, a newspaper columnist, complained to the readers’ editor that both the headlines are inaccurate; as neither makes clear that the claims of abuse were allegations, not tested in a criminal court.
I rejected the complaint on the basis that the church had settled the civil claim and accepted his guilt. A statement by the church in October 2015 said: “A formal claim for compensation was submitted in April 2014 and was settled in late September of this year. The settlement followed a thorough pre-litigation process during which further investigations into the claim took place including the commissioning of expert independent reports. None of those reports found any reason to doubt the veracity of the claim.”
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