On receiving the complaint, a member of Man of Many‘s complaints-handling staff will obtain any further details that he or she considers necessary at this stage. The Director then decides whether the complaint should not be considered further because:
- it does not meet the requirements about what can be complained about, or who can make a complaint, or when and how a complaint should be made (see Making a Complaint); or
- it is more appropriate for consideration by some other process (such as referral to a third party, amendment of processes; or referring the complaint for consideration by an industry body); or
- Man of Many has already received a complaint and considers the matter sufficiently remedied.
- even if the facts alleged in the complaint are correct, it is unlikely that a breach of the Man of Many‘s Editorial Guidelines has occurred; or
- the extent to which consideration of the complaint might require Man of Many to commit greater resources than is reasonably proportionate to the significance of the likely breaches; or
- for some other reason, the complaint is inappropriate for further consideration.
“Secondary Complaints”
Where the complainant is not personally identified or directly affected by the published material, the complaint may be considered as a “secondary complaint”.
In this situation, the Director also takes into account the following considerations, in addition to those mentioned in the previous paragraph, when deciding whether the matter should be considered further:
- the risk of aggravating any possible invasion of privacy or other harm caused to people or organisations which are directly affected by the material; or
- the extent to which informing the complainant, the media industry and the general public whether a particular type of breach has occurred may provide an important example of the application of the Man of Many‘s Standards, even if people or organisations directly affected by it do not wish to make or endorse a complaint themselves or they cannot be contacted; or
- the extent to which consideration of the complaint might require the commitment of greater resources by Man of Many or the complainant than is reasonably proportionate to the significance of the possible breaches; or
- the extent to which the matter requires the primary person’s input and/or participation.
Multiple Complaints
Where there are several separate complaints about the same material, the Director may decide to involve only one or some of the complainants in further consideration of the material. Where practicable, complainants will be notified individually of that decision and of the final outcome. Otherwise, the outcome of matters involving a significant number of complainants will be published on the Council’s website.
Handling of a Complaint
Unless the Director decides to discontinue consideration of the complaint, Man of Many will promptly respond to the complaint by telephone call or email.
The phone call and/or email will focus on whether Man of Many has already taken action in relation to a direct complaint about the material in question or may be willing to consider doing so in relation to the complaint.
Discontinuance
If the Director decides to discontinue consideration of a complaint, the complainant will be informed accordingly and may seek review of that decision, provided the request is received within seven days of being notified.
If a review is not sought or is unsuccessful, the complaint will be considered resolved.
Review / Escalation
Should the complaint fail to be discontinued or resolved as a result of these initial processes, or in cases where the complainant disagrees with the resolution of the matter, Man of Many recommends that the complainant submit the complaint for consideration to the appropriate industry body.
Regardless of its membership status, the initial source of the complaint; or any prior resolution or discontinuance attempted by Man of Many, it will cooperate with any requests made by the Council, and publish any adjudication by it.
Read all of our Editorial Policies & Standards here.