Matthew Parris: soon the most complained about writer ever?

The infamous ‘kill all cyclists’ piece by Matthew Parris has now had a stonking 430+ complaints, many filed online on this easy peasy form.

In 2007 the most complained about story had 480 complaints to the Press Complaints Commission. The second generated 180 complaints and the third had only 40 complaints.

So, it looks like the Matthew Parris column could be an early winner of 2008’s ‘most objectionable story’ booby-prize.

It’s also well on the way to becoming the most objectionable story ever. Stephen Abell, the PCC’s assistant director told Quickrelease.tv:

“We don’t have the precise statistics for the last 16 years of the PCC’s history. However, we think that 480 is probably the highest ever.”

The Parris apology may not be enough for an acquittal:

“The Commission is considering whether there are any prima facie issues under the terms of the Code of Practice it enforces. It will be aware of the apology, but will consider all aspects of the complaints that are relevant,” Mr Abell told Quickrelease.tv, adding that a view will be published next week.

Did Parris breach the PCC’s code of practice? If he did, the breach would be clause 4i:

Harassment
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.