The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is to re-open its investigation into Jan Moir’s Daily Mail column that speculated on the circumstances of Stephen Gately’s death, following a complaint from the late singer’s partner, Andrew Cowles.
Deputy director of the PCC, Stephen Abell, told Journalism.co.uk that the complaint, made via Cowles’ solicitor Mishcon de Reya, would be now be investigated.
The PCC was due to issue a decision on the 25,000 public complaints made about the column published in October this year (the largest number made for a single article in the Commission’s history), but will now re-open its inquiry.
The new complaint changes its initial schedule, Abell said. The body will now “take the complaint forward in the normal way,” he said.
Hat-tip: Guardian blogger Roy Greenslade beat us to this one, under a piece about fast Twitter reactions and storms: full post at this link…
Now we will see if the PCC is in fact a body that is spineless, or if they are there to defend the public.
If the PCC now find no reason to take the matter further, sadly it may mean the need for an Independent Press Complaints Commission.
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