Complaints Procedure

Our Commitment

The Elsenham Herald is committed to accurate, fair and responsible local journalism.

We recognise that readers, residents, businesses, organisations and public bodies may occasionally have concerns about our reporting or editorial decisions. We take all genuine complaints seriously and will consider them fairly, independently and in accordance with our Editorial Standards.

This procedure explains how to make complaints and how they will be handled.

What You Can Complain About

We will consider complaints relating to matters such as:

  • Factual inaccuracies.
  • Misleading or unfair reporting.
  • Significant omissions that materially affect the accuracy of an article.
  • Misrepresentation.
  • Ethical concerns relating to published content.
  • Failure to provide a reasonable opportunity for a right of reply where appropriate.
  • Alleged breaches of our Editorial Standards.

Where appropriate, complaints involving factual errors may also be considered under our Corrections Policy.

Matters We Will Not Normally Consider

We will not normally investigate complaints that are based solely on:

  • Disagreement with an opinion or editorial viewpoint.
  • Political or ideological differences.
  • Editorial decisions about what we choose to report.
  • Personal preferences regarding writing style or presentation.
  • Requests to remove information that is accurate and lawfully published.
  • Anonymous complaints that do not contain enough information to investigate.

Editorial judgement remains the responsibility of the Editor.

How to Make a Complaint

Complaints should be submitted through our Contact page.

Please include:

  • Your name.
  • Your contact details.
  • The title or web address of the article.
  • A clear explanation of your complaint.
  • Any supporting evidence or relevant documents.

Providing clear and detailed information will help us investigate your concerns more effectively.

How We Review Complaints

Each complaint is reviewed individually.

Depending on the nature of the complaint, we may:

  • Review the published article.
  • Examine source material.
  • Review official documents.
  • Contact the reporter or author.
  • Seek clarification from relevant organisations or individuals.
  • Request further information from the complainant.

Our objective is to determine whether the published material complies with our Editorial Standards.

Possible Outcomes

Following our review, we may decide to:

  • Take no further action.
  • Correct factual errors.
  • Publish a clarification.
  • Offer a right of reply where appropriate.
  • Update the article with additional verified information.
  • Remove or substantially amend material where justified by legal or editorial considerations.

Not every complaint will result in changes to published content.

Editorial Independence

Complaints are considered independently by the Editor.

Our decisions are based on evidence, fairness and the public interest, not on political pressure, commercial influence or attempts to suppress accurate reporting.

Legal Matters

This Complaints Procedure does not replace any legal rights or obligations.

Where a complaint raises legal issues, we may seek professional advice before reaching a decision.

Respectful Communication

We ask everyone contacting the Elsenham Herald to communicate respectfully.

Abusive, threatening, discriminatory or vexatious correspondence may not receive a substantive response.

Repeated complaints raising substantially the same issue after a decision has been made may be considered closed unless significant new evidence is provided.

Community Accountability

As an independent community newspaper, we value constructive feedback from our readers.

Residents, local businesses, schools, charities, community organisations and public bodies all have an important role in helping us maintain high editorial standards.

Evidence-based feedback helps improve the quality, fairness and accuracy of our reporting.

Our Commitment

The Elsenham Herald exists to serve the community through independent local journalism.

We are committed to listening to legitimate concerns, correcting genuine mistakes where necessary and maintaining the trust of our readers through openness, accountability and responsible reporting.

Related Policies

  • Editorial Standards
  • Corrections Policy
  • Right of Reply
  • Ethics Policy
  • AI & Editorial Assistance Policy
  • Transparency & Funding

Publisher: Knelstrom Ltd

Editor: Martin Foskett

Last Updated: 3 July 2026

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