Readers Ombudsman: It's a fact that painting a full picture for the reader is relevant

WHEN is a fact relevant, and when is a fact irrelevant? A reader has written to take us to task over what he says are irrelevant facts inserted into our news stories.

I can see how irrelevant facts, if they are truly out there, could be annoying, but Alasdair Taylor finds them actually offensive. And he seems to imply that somehow there is some kind of snobbery or money-value agenda behind the inclusion of the facts he highlights. Or maybe it just goes back to the now slightly old fashioned view that talking about money is rude.

He writes: "I thought it was time I wrote to object to your reporters' practice of inserting irrelevant facts into their copy.

"The most recent example was the headline 'British bride murdered at £330-a-night resort'. This was a shocking event, but the price of the accommodation is totally irrelevant to the key facts of the case. Is this meant to imply that the resort is 'upmarket'? Are we to be more shocked than if the couple had been staying in a £25-a-night B&B?"

He continues: "A few years ago, a girl student tragically killed in an accident on the A68 was said to have attended a '£20,000-a-year private school' – again, that's totally irrelevant to the circumstances of the event, and how distressing (or even offensive) for her grieving parents to have their late daughter referred to in these terms. Are we supposed to sympathise with them over their lost investment as well as their lost daughter?

"This is tabloidesque sensationalism which is out-of-place in The Scotsman".

I am not sure how including the offending facts could be described as sensationalism. However, do we expect more expensive hotels in exotic locations to offer greater security than cheaper ones? I think we probably do, but that's not the reason the figure was included.

I think there are two reasons why journalists include such figures, one very straightforward, the other a bit more subtle.

Firstly it is our job to deliver as much information as possible. We want to paint as full a picture as possible for our readers, let them know the details that will allow them to get a clearer picture and draw their own conclusions. It may not be vital information that the hotel in Antigua cost what for the vast majority would be a lot of money, but it does paint a slightly sharper picture for most readers of the circumstances of the tragedy.

It also raises the potential issue that very expensive hotels in very poor countries might be obvious crime targets.

Most journalists will err on the side of giving as much information as possible. They or their editors will obviously stop at anything they deem to be insensitive or hurtful, but anything else will be balanced against the desire to tell as much of the story as possible.

The second reason is that people buy newspapers for news and debate that is relevant to them. The more information contained in stories about people, the easier it will be for readers to empathise and sympathise with them, and possibly to identify with them.

I hope we did not offend the parents of the girl by referring to her school in this way, I do not believe we did, and certainly in all my years in newspapers I cannot recall ever receiving a complaint from any parents or anyone else along these lines. I do not think that the facts we included in the cases raised by Mr Taylor were actually irrelevant, although obviously not central, and I do not think they were insensitive or hurtful.

I have to apologise for a glaring error on our puzzles pages last Monday. Again a first in my experience, we published Kakuro and Hitori puzzles with the grids all filled in with the answers. This was not a badly-conceived initiative to save our readers valuable time, but an error that I hope we have now moved to prevent ever happening again. I know many readers were disappointed, I do apologise.

• If you have a complaint with editorial in The Scotsman contact Ian Stewart at [e-mail], or 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS or on 0131 620 8633.