24 Jul, 2010
There are some quality newspaper publications in the UK. The Daily Star isn’t one of them. And thanks to the claims they made last week about game publisher Rockstar producing a new Grand Theft Auto game based upon the Raoul Moat manhunt, what little credibility they did had is now in doubt. Well – when it comes to gamers, anyway.
Today the Star published an ‘unreserved’ apology to Rockstar, admitting that the source had not been checked or verified prior to publication. The paper has since coughed up an undisclosed sum in compensation, which Rockstar is expected to donate to charity.
Colleagues at GamesIndustry.biz contacted Rockstar for comment, but the publisher confirmed that it considered the matter closed and would not issue a formal comment.
Here’s the apology in full:
On 21 July we published an article claiming that the video games company Rockstar Games were planning to release a version of their popular Grand Theft Auto video games series titled “Grand Theft Auto Rothbury”.
We also published what we claimed would be the cover of this game, solicited comments from a family member impacted by the recent tragedy and criticised Rockstar Games for their alleged plans.
We made no attempt to check the accuracy of the story before publication and did not contact Rockstar Games prior to publishing the story. We also did not question why a best-selling and critically acclaimed fictional games series would choose to base one of their most popular games on this horrifying real crime event.
It is now accepted that there were never any plans by Rockstar Games to publish such a game and that the story was false. We apologise for publishing the story using a mock-up of the game cover, our own comments on the matter and soliciting critical comments from a grieving family member.
We unreservedly apologise to Rockstar Games and we have undertaken not to repeat the claims again. We have also agreed to pay them a substantial amount in damages which they are donating to charity.
Best. Apology. Ever.
[Via The Guardian]
I was just reading this, I guess there is now an unemployed journalist somewhere !
The press complaints commission should make their rules on apologies clearer and just print them the same size as the original article. These are the rules at the moment, which don’t preclude a front page apology.
ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and – where appropriate – an apology published.
Furthermore, the editors’ codebook states:
“the positioning of apologies or corrections should generally reflect the seriousness of the error – and that would include front page apologies where appropriate.”
I expect this apology has had a wider circulation than the actual newspaper though, karma and all that.
Apparently the report author is unrepentant. Quel surprise.
You’re right, though. I know that I, for one, don’t usually give a crap about that particular rag!