How do I submit a complaint about an article?
You email complaints@civicaffairs.uk — that’s the only address we use for editorial complaints. We aim to acknowledge every complaint within five working days, and we’ll tell you what happens next.
Civic Affairs takes editorial accuracy and fairness seriously. If you believe we have made a factual error, misrepresented someone, breached our editorial policy, or published content that does not meet our standards, please get in touch. Complaints can come from readers, sources, subjects of articles, or anyone with a legitimate concern. The quicker you send us the details, the faster we can investigate.
For anything that is not an editorial complaint — for example, a technical issue with the website, a subscription query, or a general comment — please use our general contact page or email info@civicaffairs.uk.
What should I include in my complaint?
Send the full article URL, the publication date, a clear statement of which specific statement you challenge, and your supporting evidence. Also include your name and a contact email or phone number so we can reply to you.
We cannot investigate anonymous complaints, but we will treat your personal information confidentially and only use it to handle your case. The more precise you are, the faster we can assess the issue. For example, instead of saying “the article is wrong about the council budget,” tell us: “On page 2, paragraph 4, the article says the council cut £500,000 from library services, but the published council minutes show the cut was £200,000” and attach a link or screenshot of the minutes. That kind of detail helps our fact-checking team move quickly.
If your complaint relates to a correction we have already published, please mention that and explain why you believe the correction was insufficient. We will review it again under our corrections policy.
How does Civic Affairs handle my complaint?
We acknowledge receipt within five working days and assign the complaint to the most relevant editor. For straightforward factual errors we may resolve it in a few days; complex complaints may require additional review and take longer.
Our Diane Forbes, Standards & Fact-Checking Lead, manages the complaints process. She will log your complaint, review the article and the evidence, and where needed consult the reporter or editor responsible. The possible outcomes are:
- Correction — we publish a correction on the article, explaining what was wrong and what has been changed.
- Clarification — we add a note that provides more context or explains a phrase that could be misunderstood.
- Update — we update the article with new information (this may also be noted at the foot of the piece).
- Removal — in rare cases, if the article contains a serious factual or legal breach, we may remove it entirely and publish a notice.
- No action — if we determine the article meets our editorial standards and the complaint is unfounded, we will explain our reasoning to you.
Whatever the outcome, we will write to you with a full explanation. If the complaint raises an issue of editorial policy or standards, we may also update our internal guidelines or publish a note for readers.
What if I’m not satisfied with the outcome?
You can ask for your complaint to be escalated to William Ashby, Editor-in-Chief. He will personally review the case, the handling process, and the final decision.
Serious matters — such as allegations of systemic bias, breaches of journalistic ethics, or complaints about a senior editor — should be sent directly to William at william.ashby@civicaffairs.uk, or via the complaints address with “Escalation for Editor-in-Chief” in the subject line. He aims to respond within ten working days. If after that you remain unsatisfied, and the complaint concerns a potential breach of our editorial policy or of industry codes, we will signpost you to an independent external body such as the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) or the Malta-based media complaints mechanism (since Sliema Media Limited is registered in Malta). Note that Civic Affairs is not regulated by IPSO, but we commit to cooperating with any legitimate independent review process.
How this works in practice
Let’s walk through a realistic example. A reader named Alex reads an article on Civic Affairs about a local council’s decision to close a leisure centre. The article states: “The council voted 8–5 in favour of closure at the meeting on 10 March.” Alex attended that meeting and says the vote was actually 7–6. Alex emails complaints@civicaffairs.uk with the article URL, the publication date, the specific sentence, and a link to the council’s official minutes showing the 7–6 tally. He includes his full name and email.
Diane Forbes acknowledges the complaint within two working days. She checks the minutes, sees Alex is correct, and emails the reporter to confirm. The next day, Civic Affairs adds a correction to the article: “Correction: This article originally stated the council voted 8–5 to close the leisure centre. The correct vote was 7–6. We have corrected the figure and regret the error.” Diane then emails Alex to tell him what has been changed and thanks him for flagging the mistake. If Alex felt the correction was incomplete, he could ask William Ashby to review. In this case, the matter is resolved smoothly in under a week.
In short
If you spot something in a Civic Affairs article that you believe is wrong or unfair, email complaints@civicaffairs.uk with the article URL, your evidence, and your contact details. We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days and work through it fairly, keeping you informed at every stage. For privacy-related concerns, please see our privacy policy; for general corrections, our corrections policy has the full process.