The tragic events at Hart Street, the subsequent vigils, tributes and the St Luke’s Road riot have been the most difficult story we have ever covered.
We are painfully aware of the need for sensitivity when covering these events, and our continued coverage will be respectful, honest and robustly fact-checked.
This document, itself an informal policy, will dictate how we continue to cover these events.
Our Coverage
We will not shy away from news coverage of what happened at Hart Street or any connected events that occurred later, but coverage will be measured and reasonable and only published if there is a genuine public interest. We believe there is genuine public interest specifically in covering the spread of disinformation and the cause of the St Luke’s Road riot.
We believe there is a strong journalistic and historical justification for continuing to cover the human impact of this story and the long-term effect it will have on our community.
We will be generally compliant with the principles of the No Notoriety campaign.
Approaching victims and families
OTS News will not approach any victim, or any family member (and has not done so). However, if they choose to contact us, we would happily discuss how we could cover their story with care.
Similarly, OTS News will not attend any event, particularly the funerals of Bebe, Elsie and Alice that has specifically been listed as a private event. We may reserve the right to attend public events, if appropriate to do so.
Profit
It is perfectly reasonable to scrutinise OTS News and its commercial approach to our coverage of Hart Street.
We will not profit from our coverage, and our content is not being commissioned based on expected views, clicks, social media shares, or advertising revenue. OTS will make a relevant donation that will more than erase any profit we generate from our coverage of this story. Our legal entity, The Blowick Publishing Company Ltd, made a donation here on 14/08/2024 of £1,000 under the name “James and Nicola Cave”.
OTS News did see a significant spike in traffic on the day of the Hart Street attack and for a number of days afterwards. The increase in revenue this created was minimal and offset by the resources we have expended covering the tragedy.
Crowdfunders and community events
We have been contacted regularly since the date of the attack with requests to advertise, promote or endorse various crowdfunding iniatives, fundraising events and community events. This in instelf has placed a strain on resources as we are having to check the end destination of any funds that are raised. We will endeavour to support community events that we can verify have a genuine local connection, but please don’t be offended if we suggest we’re currently unable to cover your event.
Social media comments
The management of our social media comments have posed, and are likely to continue to pose, a significant challenge. As a Facebook page, we do not have the ability to turn off commenting in general, and as a local news group related to a story that received international coverage, our page saw a sharp increase from people overseas and people who wished to push political agendas.
OTS News will generally endeavour to remove any inflammatory comment. If you see something that should be removed, the best way to help us with this is to screenshot the full comment, and send it to us via Facebook.
James Cave – Last updated 14/08/2024