Press regulator slams the Jewish Chronicle (again)
JC political editor Lee Harpin made a number of false allegations in four separate stories against a Merseyside pensioner
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) upheld six breaches of its Editorial Code for accuracy against the Jewish Chronicle and political editor, Lee Harpin. IPSO also criticised the JC’s conduct during the investigation calling it “unacceptable”. As a result, on 29 November it had to publish the extensive findings online and in print.
On 20 February 2020 the JC was forced to publish an apology to Audrey White for the distress it had caused. It was further made to pay substantial damages to her.
Audrey brought the complaint against Harpin and the JC after a series of four articles published in February and March 2019. These articles made a number of false accusations against White, including claiming she had lied to join the Labour Party, and that she had made up a story about a councillor under investigation for a hate crime. The fabricated articles also alleged that Liverpool activists had bullied MP Louise Ellman, the former representative for Liverpool Riverside.
This is not the first time that the JC and Harpin have run into trouble in recent years.
In August 2019, Interpal received an apology and damages of £50,000 after claiming that the charity had links to terrorist activity. The paper published the apology in full, together with an article by Ibrahim Hewitt, chair of trustees of Interpal.
In April 2019, it published a ruling by IPSO that articles it had published in May 2017 and April 2018 about an author critical of Zionism, contained inaccuracies regarding venue denial activity by Jewish organisations, and the author’s views on the relationship between Zionism and Nazi Germany. IPSO further stated the publication had failed to issue a timely correction. The Jewish Chronicle said that it had relied on comments made by the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
In February 2018, The Jewish Chronicle falsely reported that Mike Sivier, a blogger and Labour Party member, was a holocaust denier. IPSO upheld a complaint by Mr Sivier that the newspaper had misrepresented online comments he had made.
In August 2017, The Jewish Chronicle published a ruling by IPSO that an article it had published earlier that year about a court case was in breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice by identifying family members of the defendant. The Judge did not accept the defences of The Jewish Chronicle that the family members were prominent members of the community or that the family had been referenced in the proceedings, albeit without identifying individual members.
Harpin himself is not a stranger to controversy. In 2015 he was the fifth journalist to be arrested in relation to allegations of phone hacking at the Mirror. He was later released after the Crown Prosecution Service found there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Mirror journalists or News UK.
Postscript (10 October 2020)
The Jewish Chronicle, its editor Stephen Pollard and journalist Lee Harpin have again been forced to publish an apology, this time to Nada al-Sanjari, a school teacher and local councillor, over a number of articles they published last year. They also agreed to pay her a substantial sum in libel damages, as well as her legal costs.
