Press Council: Complaint against Tribune de Genève partially upheld
In a report on a controversial school report card, the *Tribune de Genève* published a facsimile bearing the name and signature of the principal in question without seeking his response to the allegations made against him. In doing so, the newspaper violated its obligation to hear both sides of the story.
On June 4, 2011, the Geneva daily newspaper published the following article: "Controversial school report: a pupil goes to court". The report stated that a non-graduate high school student complained about an anomaly in his school report. The principal
The signed repetition decision was dated earlier than the handwritten application by the class teacher. The principal's name was clearly legible on the facsimile of the certificate published by the "Tribune de Genève". However, he was not personally contacted by the newspaper before the article appeared. The report only quotes the Department of Education and the director of the office responsible for secondary schools.
Even if the school authorities had forbidden the principal to comment on the case, the "Tribune de Genève" should, in the opinion of the Press Council, either have noted this in the report or otherwise covered up the name and signature on the picture.
