Ian Stewart: Readers must keep an eye on advertising, as they do with news

Published on Sunday 3 May 2009 22:11

EVERY day there are hundreds of photographs and thousands of words. Newspapers really are big – there is a great deal in them. And a fair proportion of that is advertising – how we make our living.

For the ease of managing these leviathans we tend to split them into sections, and editorial, or the journalism, and advertising are largely dealt with by separate departments, although there is of course co-ordination and communication.

My role here is defined as responding to complaints about editorial, but when I received a complaint about advertising I thought it would be useful to shed a little light into that part of the paper – because that is what it is – part of our paper.

Robert Dow wrote: "I don't know whether you concern yourself with advertisements within the paper's Saturday Magazine, but last week's issue contained what I would call a real whopper, and I wondered whether there was any editing or indeed perusal of such items.

"I would call into question the piece entitled "It's time to drink up", advertising a range of "health drinks".

"This states as fact the outlandish claim that nine out of ten people in the UK are 'dehydrated'. I would challenge both the statistics and the definition. Dehydrated is a considerable stage beyond thirsty, and backing up the argument with the claim that 41 per cent of Scots 'say they often feel thirsty throughout the day' is just farcical. In warm weather that would almost certainly apply to 100 per cent.

"If 90 per cent of the population is really dehydrated, who on earth is drinking all the beer, wine, coke, tea and coffee – not to mention water? And who is littering the country with plastic bottles and soft drinks cans? This advertisement verges on dishonest, in my opinion."

It is, as I have said, an interesting issue. In the course of a week we probably carry thousands of adverts. The resources required to investigate every claim made would be staggering. We simply cannot do it. But there are others who have that task.

The Advertising Standards Authority regulates the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK. Its task is to make sure standards are kept high by applying its advertising standards codes.

One of its main aims is "to stop misleading, harmful or offensive advertising". It does this by responding to complaints, but it also monitors adverts itself looking for breaches.

It also runs a copy advice team which provides a pre-publication service for the industry.

So it is really up to the advertiser to ensure the adverts meet the standards required. It is in their interests because if a complaint is made and upheld then the advertiser can be referred to the Office of Fair Trading.

We as a newspaper can also run adverts past the advice team on the ASA, and we will do that if we see something that makes us uneasy, and we will not run that advert until we are sure it complies with the codes. But as I said we cannot do that with every advert, so it is another area of the paper where reader vigilance is part of making the system work.

Jim Dow (I assume no relation) writes: "Please abolish phrases such as "it has emerged" or "it emerged yesterday" – they add nothing to the story and sometimes indicate that the story was carried elsewhere and you are just catching up. "

I'm not sure it always does mean that, but if it gives that impression, we should avoid it.

&#149 If you have a complaint about editorial in The Scotsman contact Ian Stewart on [e-mail] or 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS or on 0131 629 8633.