APC Update | Issue 32
APC UPDATE
 |
| APC UPDATE | 4 July 2014 |
| Summary of latest adjudications |
| Port Macquarie News |
| The Press Council has concluded that its Standards of Practice were breached in an article about the trial of a man for an alleged sexual offence against a girl who was a minor at the time. It quoted the prosecutor’s graphic words detailing the alleged act as well as a conversation between the man and the girl which referred in colloquial detail to what the man had allegedly done. |
| The Council considered that the frequency of reference to details of the alleged act was more than necessary to explain the differences between what was alleged by the prosecutor and by the defendant, and was very likely to disturb many of the publication’s readers. The age of the girl added to the Council’s concerns. Read the full adjudication |
| Norilsk Nickel/The Weekend Australian |
| The Press Council has upheld a complaint about an article, “Legacy warning in mine collapse” on 23 November 2013. The article began: “The subsidence of an abandoned mine site in remote Western Australia has highlighted the ‘gigantic legacy headache’ posed by deserted mines in the state”. It said “a farmer stumbled across the collapsed mine at Norilsk’s Lake Johnston nickel operations, 540km east of Perth”. |
| The Press Council concluded that the article inaccurately described the mine as “abandoned” and unfairly implied it was a prime example of the safety and rehabilitation problems caused by abandoned mines. Concerns about public safety were exaggerated by inaccurately stating that the mine had been “stumbled” upon, when it had been deliberately visited by crossing a fence with “no entry” signs. It was also unfair to describe the site as a “collapsed mine”. The assertions of the spokesman who had not visited the site were insufficient justification in the face of Norilsk’s denials. Read the full adjudication |
| Hervey Bay Hospital ICU/Fraser Coast Chronicle |
| The Press Council concluded that its Standards of Practice were breached by print and online articles on 8 February 2014 about the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Hervey Bay Hospital. Headings on the print article read: “Intensive care unit scrapped, Exclusive: Lives put at risk as $ axe falls on Hervey Bay ICU”. |
| The publication acknowledged that the original report of closure was seriously incorrect, despite the confidence it had in sources used, and that further efforts at clarification should have been made before publishing the article. |
| The Council concluded that the publication did not take reasonable steps to ensure accuracy and fairness when reporting closure of the unit. It also considered that the publication’s online efforts to correct the report were insufficiently clear and that it should have apologised online and in the next print issue. It welcomed, however, the publication’s detailed acknowledgement to the Council that it had not handled the matter appropriately. Read the full adjudication |
| Townsville Bulletin |
| The Press Council has concluded a complaint that its Standards of Practice were not breached by an article on 22 February 2014 headed "Bringing Home The Bacon". The article reported a man’s guilty plea to various counts of theft from large retail outlets. Each of the thefts involved attempts to conceal the merchandise down the front of his pants. On one occasion this consisted of three packets of bacon. |
| Under the main heading there was a smaller one reading: “Pigs fly as thief stuffs the full hog down his pants undiebelly style”. A heading at the end of the article read “...And That's No Porkies”. At the end of the article it was reported that the man’s solicitor told the court he was on daily medication for schizophrenia. |
| The Council considered that the unusual nature of the man’s attempts to conceal the merchandise, and the solicitor’s reference to his schizophrenia, should have alerted the publication to the need for some sensitivity in covering the issue. However, it was also relevant that no particular emphasis was given to his condition at the hearing. |
| Accordingly, the Council considered that the publication should have exercised more sensitivity in the headings but, on balance, the failure to do so was not so serious as to constitute a breach of the Standards of Practice. Read the full adjudication |
| Rodney Adler/The Sunday Telegraph |
| The Press Council has upheld a complaint about an article headed “Adler owes it all to his wife – How Lyndi has built a business empire”, in The Sunday Telegraph on 29 December 2013. |
| Mr Adler complained that it was inaccurate and unfair to say his wife was building a “business empire” and to publish an article which could be read as an invitation to regulators to review his conduct. He also complained that several other statements in the article were inaccurate, including that he “spent 2½ years in jail for his role in the $5 billion collapse of insurer HIH”. He complained that the article breached his privacy and that a subsequent correction in the newspaper was not sufficiently complete, prompt or prominent. |
| The Council concluded that the description of Mrs Adler’s business activities was unfair. It also concluded that the description of Mr Adler’s conviction was inaccurate and unfair as the judge explicitly said it did not relate to the company’s collapse. The Council did not consider, however, that the privacy of Mr Adler and his family was breached by the article. It also said several other statements did not amount to serious inaccuracies. Read the full adjudication |
| The Age |
| The Press Council has concluded that its Standards of Practice were breached by an opinion article, “Auto report is a fantasy tale with a tragic twist”, on 6 February 2014. The author referred to the Prime Minister’s response to the announcement by General Motors Holden to withdraw from manufacturing in Australia Holden: “Abbott, when asked about the Holden workers who will lose their jobs, said they should be grateful they were being liberated from slaving on an assembly line, moving to living off Newstart and Work for the Dole." |
| The Press Council considered that, in general, when an article states that a person has “said” something, the description of what he said must either be an accurate quote or a reasonably accurate paraphrase. It concluded that the article misrepresented what Mr Abbott said. A transcript showed he drew a distinction between workers who would find it difficult and those who would pursue new opportunities. It was only the second group which he said would “probably be liberated”. Mr Abbott had neither used the word “grateful” nor referred to Newstart or Work for the Dole. Read the full adjudication |
| Some remedies without adjudication |
| Recent examples of the Council helping complainants obtain a remedy without adjudication. |
| Case 1 |
| A complaint about a report in a metropolitan newspaper that the head of a disability support organisation was in favour of “welfare reforms” proposed by the federal government in relation to disability pensioners. |
| The person said to the Council that he does not support a hard line approach as described in the article. Instead, he supports appropriate government measures to create employment opportunities for disability pensioners, and he opposes budget measures and welfare reforms that will adversely affect vulnerable people. |
| After discussions with Press Council staff, the publication agreed to post a clarification, expressed regret for any misinterpretation, and removed the article from its website and indexes so that it is no longer searchable. |
| Case 2 |
| A complaint about a headline in a regional newspaper about the possible health effects of wind farms. |
| The complainant said the headline “No harm to health” was inaccurate because the study cited did not unequivocally report that no harm was caused by wind farms. The study noted that there is limited evidence that proximity to wind farms is associated with health problems, annoyance, sleep disturbance and poorer quality of life. |
| After discussions with Press Council staff, the newspaper agreed to publish a letter from a spokesperson for a local group opposed to wind farms in which the group’s concerns were expressed in detail. |
| Australian Press Council Address: Level 6, 309 Kent St, Sydney, 2000 Phone: (02) 9261 1930 or 1800 025 712 Fax: (02) 9267 6826 Email: info@presscouncil.org.au Web: http://www.presscouncil.org.au |
|
Search
