The incorrect headline was up for three days and read by many before the correction was made.

The Media Council has upheld a complaint against Stuff for being slow to correct a headline about suicides among the elderly.

An online article was published on June 30 under the headline "Elderly choosing to kill themselves rather than live in aged care facilities".

A reader, Graham Wilkinson, emailed a complaint the following day saying there was no factual basis for the headline. To the contrary the article reported a suicide note from a 91-year-old man acknowledging the care he received in his rest home.

Stuff Waikato region editor Jonathan MacKenzie took two days to respond to the complaint and acknowledged the headline did not fairly represent the story. He changed it to "Elderly choosing to kill themselves" and added a line at the bottom of the story stating that an earlier headline was inaccurate.

Beyond that he said that nothing more could be done and dismissed Mr Wilkinson's call for an apology.

However, the article and incorrect headline had been online for three days and read by many before the correction was made.

By this time it would have been of diminished interest and fewer people would have been likely to read it, let alone see the correction note at the bottom of the article.

The Media Council has been concerned for some time that media companies are failing to adequately monitor avenues for complaint so they can swiftly correct mistakes.

This was clearly a case where Stuff could have acted far more quickly.

An online apology to Stuff readers would have been appropriate.

The Media Council's principle on corrections states that a publication's willingness to correct errors enhances its credibility and, often, defuses complaint.

Significant errors should be promptly corrected with fair prominence. In some circumstances it will be appropriate to offer an apology and a right of reply to an affected person or persons.

The full decision is at www.mediacouncil.org.nz.