“Pedo lolly pop man”.

 

That was the headline on the stick (sidebar) of one of the papers my old boss used to edit. The picture in question was accompanied by a photograph of the alleged criminal in question. Just another front page, you might think. But not that day.

 

There was two problems. The first? It was a headline that the facts didn’t support. It could have cost Trinity Mirror a lot of money, but more expensively, it could have cost someone their job – and an innocent man a lot more.

 

The page had been laid out by a sub editor working in another office. The phonecall that followed brought the office to a standstill:

 

“What the f*** are you doing? He hasn’t been convicted yet! This is a live court case! This could cost someone their job. Me!”

 

And the second problem? The editor raised his voice. “And furthermore. ..”

 

“And furthermore, LOLLIPOP IS ONE WORD!”