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Dr Timothy Hawkes / The Sun Herald and The Sydney Morning Herald (no.1590)
The Press Council has upheld two complaints from Dr Timothy Hawkes about articles in The Sun Herald and The Sydney Morning Herald in December 2012 concerning a student from The King’s School in Sydney who was charged with a serious criminal offence while on an oversees exchange program. The articles described the response by the school and by Dr Hawkes, its Headmaster. Police later dropped the charges.
The Council decided that the articles breached the student’s privacy, without there being sufficient justification that it was in the public interest to do so. It also decided that Dr Hawkes should have been given an adequate opportunity to respond to the serious criticisms of his school which were presented in the articles. Accordingly, these aspects of the complaint were upheld. Dr Hawkes also complained that the article reported a comment by him in a way that suggested he did not adequately realise the seriousness of the criminal charge. The Council decided it could not be sure about the nature and context of the comment made by Dr Hawkes. Accordingly, this aspect of the complaint was not upheld. Read the full adjudication.
Nicole Lamb / news.com.au (no. 1594)
A complaint about an article in September 2013 which provided “a guide on how to pick a child molester”. A section headed “The damaged” said paedophiles have often been the victims of molestation when children; “if you know this about a person’s past, beware”; and “don’t [let] them anywhere near young people you know”. It also said “child molestation victims often seek out children at the stage of physical development at which they were molested”. The complaint was that the comments were inaccurate, deeply offensive, and served to marginalise victims. The publication removed them from the website soon after receiving complaints and it published a critical response. It acknowledged to the Council that they were misleading and should not have been published.
The Council decided the article over-stated how often victims of molestation become perpetrators. It also decided the comments were gravely offensive to a very wide range of the community, without sufficient justification on public interest grounds. Accordingly, the complaints were upheld. Read the full adjudication.
Jamie Parker / The Sunday Telegraph (no. 1592)
The Press Council has upheld a complaint by Jamie Parker MP about an article in The Sunday Telegraph on 24 March 2013 concerning his campaign to help save the Annandale Hotel. He complained about the headline, Green tries to save pub he trashed, and a statement that when previously on Leichhardt Council he “voted 11 times to continue legal action that eventually contributed to [the hotel] going bankrupt”.
The Press Council noted the minutes of Leichhardt Council meetings clearly showed that while Mr Parker voted in 2005 against a requested extension to 3am and later in favour of an extension to 1am, he did not vote at any time about the Leichardt Council’s response to legal action by the hotel. Accordingly, the Press Council concluded that the publication did not take reasonable steps to ensure accuracy and fairness.It also concluded that the publication itself should have promptly and prominently corrected the error, rather than merely offering an opportunity for Mr Parker to assert his version in a letter to the editor. Read the full adjudication.
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Recent examples of the Council helping complainants obtain a remedy without proceeding to adjudication
Case 1
A complaint that a metropolitan newspaper published photographs of a dead woman's house on the day of her death, leading to some family members finding out about the death for the first time in this way. The Council contacted the newspaper, which promptly removed the photos and expressed regret that some relatives had learned about the death via a news report. The newspaper also offered a mediation discussion, but this was declined by the family.
Case 2
Complaints against two regional newspapers about articles referring to kangaroo populations as being in plague-like proportions and containing unbalanced reporting on the culling industry. No comments were sought by the newspapers from people opposed to a kangaroo cull. The Council told the newspaper of the complainant’s concern, and publication of letters to the editors was arranged.
Case 3
A complaint against a major metropolitan newspaper about the online version of an article which contained photographs depicting part of the body of a young girl at the scene of a major accident. The complainant argued that publication of the graphic photos of the girl, who later died in hospital, was offensive and insensitive. Upon being notified by the Council of these concerns, the newspaper removed the two photos from the article.
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