Ipso Facto: Analysis of Complaints to IPSO

Independent Press Standards Agency (IPSO) handles complaints about accuracy, etc., in the media in the U.K. Against which media organization are most complaints filed? And against which organization are the complaints most often upheld? We answer these questions using data from the IPSO website. (The data and scripts behind the analysis are posted on GitHub.)

Between its formation in September, 2014 and May 20th, 2016, IPSO received 371 complaints. As expected, tabloid newspapers are well represented. Of the 371 complaints, The Telegraph alone received 35 complaints, or about 9.4% of the total complaints. It was followed closely by The Mail with 31 complaints. The Times had 25 complaints filed against it, The Mirror and The Express 22 each, and The Sun, 19 complaints.

Generally, less than half the number of complaints were completely or partly upheld. Topping the list were The Express and The Telegraph, with 10 upheld complaints each. And following close behind was The Times with eight complaints, The Mail with 6, and The Sun and the Daily Star with four each.

See also the plot of the batting average of media organizations with the most complaints against them.