The Telegraph has been reprimanded by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) after publishing a fabricated article about a wealthy banker complaining about the impact of school fee increases. The story, headlined “We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays,” was published online on 25 May last year.
The article claimed that investment banker Al Moy, 38, and his wife Alexandra had a joint salary of £345,000 and three children at fee-paying schools. It said the couple had been forced to switch supermarkets from Waitrose to Sainsbury’s, reduce their gardener to once a month, and take fewer long-haul holidays after the addition of VAT to school fees.
Freelance journalist Ian Fraser complained to Ipso that the story breached the editors’ code of practice. He flagged concerns after finding that stock images were used to illustrate the family and that no trace of the couple existed online. Ipso upheld the complaint, finding that the Telegraph had not taken due care over accuracy.
The Telegraph accepted the breach, saying it had removed the article promptly and published an apology. A spokesperson said the newspaper had strengthened its pre-publication processes after a thorough internal investigation. The PR agency Boldspace, acting for financial planning firm Saltus, said the case study had been identified through a research partner and that a freelance journalist had interviewed the individual independently.
