Press Council: Privacy and identification
The Press Council has partially upheld a complaint against a news report in *Blick* and *Blick.ch*.
On November 13, 2014, Blick reported on the postbus accident in Endingen AG on November 11, 2014, in which two people lost their lives. The article dealt under the title "Their luck was perfect. The second victim Jonas M. (✝24) leaves behind wife and newborn child" with the fate of this young family. Among other things, the article was illustrated with a pixelated photo of the couple and described the life situation
of the victim.
The complainant objected to several errors. Blick had used a photo from the woman's Facebook profile without asking her and misused it for the report. By publishing the first name and the initial of the last name, the information on profession, marital status, former place of residence and the pixelated photo, the identity of the victim had not been protected, although there was no public interest in her identification. In addition, the report violated the duty of truth. Both the information about the hobby of the victim and the change of residence and the type of house were false.
The Press Council concludes that Blick and Blick.ch have violated Clause 7 (Privacy) of the "Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists" with regard to the protection of personality rights by using a photo of the accident victim and his wife from the woman's Facebook page without her consent. In addition, the complaint is dismissed.
