Complaint
This News Online item was a report on protests about an annual Mass, commemorating the victims of massacres carried out by Yugoslav Partisan forces in 1945, after the formal cessations of hostilities in Europe.Β Normally celebrated at Bleiburg in Austria, where troops of the fascist Ustasha regime in Croatia had aimed to surrender to British forces, the Mass had been moved to Sarajevo Cathedral on account of Covid-19 restrictions.Β A reader complained that the word βh΄Η²Τ΄Η³ά°ωΎ±²Τ²΅β in the headline was inaccurate.Β Although it was changed to βf΄Η°ωβ in response to his complaint, he remained concerned that the headline misrepresented the nature of the event, and the accompanying article did not represent properly the position of the Catholic Church.Β The victims of the massacres had included many civilians as well as Ustasha troops, and the Mass was intended for all victims, not as βa Mass for fascistsβ. Β The ECU considered the complaint in relation to the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs Editorial Guidelines on Accuracy.
Outcome
The ECU agreed that the word βh΄Η²Τ΄Η³ά°ωΎ±²Τ²΅β was inaccurate, and needed to be changed.Β However, there was little room for doubt that Ustasha troops had formed a significant proportion of the victims, even though, as a result of the lack of open discussion of such matters in post-war Yugoslavia, precise numbers could not be established; and the article reflected the Churchβs view that praying for victimsβ souls did not mean approval of their acts, as well as making clear that civilians were among the victims.Β The ECU judged that, in the context of a relatively short news report occasioned by the protests, both the headline and the body of the article were duly accurate, and the change to the headline made in response to the original complaint sufficed to resolve the issue of accuracy it raised.
Resolved