Latest Adjudications

The Press Council has considered a complaint by the wool industry's peak body, AWI, that an article about aspects of its governance was inaccurate and misleading.

The Council concluded that the description of recent rearrangements contained a number of errors which, although not seriously misleading, needed to be corrected. Only some of them had been corrected by the newspaper prior to the adjudication. The complaint was upheld on that ground and the Council called on the newspaper to correct the remaining errors. The Council concluded AWI had not established that the article’s account of a conflict of interest amongst directors, and the Board’s response thereto, was inaccurate or misleading. Accordingly, that aspect of the complaint was dismissed

The Press Council has considered a complaint that print and online headlines on reports of a protest about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against the Israeli government were inaccurate and presented opinion as fact. The print headline was "Anti-Jew protest condemned" and the online headline was "Prominent Australians fight anti-Semitism with hot chocolate". The complainant said the BDS protests were against Israeli government policies, not "anti-Jew" or "anti-Semitic".The Council upheld the complaint about the print headline because it presented opinion as fact and misrepresented the tenor of the article. The Council dismissed the complaint about the online headline because it could be reasonably read as describing the opinions of the prominent Australians, not as a statement of fact.

The Press Council has considered a complaint that the words "Executive Education: Can women be ‘taught’ to lead?" on a magazine's front cover were offensive, largely in implying women are inherently incapable of leadership. The words related to a following article in the magazine about how much emphasis should be placed on leadership courses as a way of increasing the number of women in executive positions.The Council concluded the words could reasonably be interpreted as having the meaning complained of or as conveying the same unobjectionable message as the article itself. Accordingly, it did not uphold the complaint, though it emphasised the need for care to avoid using words which might cause great offence even without an intention to do so.

The Press Council has considered a complaint that an article named a deceased victim of a traffic accident before his identity had been confirmed.The Council upheld the complaint because it considered the newspaper did not have sufficient basis for absolute certainty as to the identity of the victim, and because it did not use qualifying words such as "believed to be" in naming the deceased man.

The Press Council has considered a complaint that an online comment was unfairly edited and an introductory line added, without consultation with the writer.The Council said it was unable to determine the newspaper had deleted or added words but it would be developing specific Standards of Practice on the editing of readers’ comments.

Council has considered a complaint from the Greens about an article stating that their negotiations about the Federal Budget had reduced funding for flood relief.The Council upheld the complaint because there was no evidence to support the key assertion, which remains uncorrected.

The Press Council has considered a complaint that the newspaper misrepresented a previous complaint to the Council and the reason why it was upheld.The Council considered the article incorrectly implied the earlier complaint and the Council’s reason for upholding it had related solely to the subject photograph, as they actually related to the cumulative effects of the photograph, its caption and some letters to the editor. Accordingly, the second complaint was upheld.

The Press Council has considered a complaint about an online headline, “Court theatrics sees Islam rear its ugly head again” on an opinion article relating to a confrontation outside a court.The Council upheld the complaint because the headline was inaccurate and unfair and did not reflect the tenor of the article.

The Press Council has considered a complaint that an article, by implying that climate scientists deserved abuse and death threats, was unfair and offensive.The Council did not uphold the complaint because it considered the words in question reasonably open to other interpretations.

The Press Council has considered a complaint that an article comparing the Disability Support Pension and Newstart Allowance was inaccurate and unfairly misrepresented the views of the people mentioned in it.The Council upheld the complaint on these grounds.

The Press Council has considered a complaint about a front-page headline and article on the incidence of youth crime.The Council upheld the complaint because the article seriously misstated the incidence and the newspaper then failed to correct the error when brought to its attention, or publish the letter to the editor which did so.

Council has considered a complaint by a lobby group, Save Albert Park, concerning four articles about the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. It related principally to quotes from the Grand Prix Chair stating specific figures for the financial benefits of the Grand Prix and for attendance at it.The Council upheld the complaint because although the papers had previously reported material contesting the claims, they should have stated the claims were disputed.

The Press Council has considered a complaint that a report about a possible new NRL team in Brisbane did not disclose News Limited's majority ownership of the current Brisbane-based team.The Council said, in general, a newspaper’s close financial relationship should be disclosed in articles which may affect that interest. In this case, however, the complaint was dismissed because the relationship was well-known amongst the vast majority of likely readers and the article was clearly not favourable to the newspaper’s interests.

The Australian Press Council has dismissed complaints from Peter Bates against the Central Telegraph, Biloela, Queensland. Mr Bates a mayoral candidate in elections for the Banana Shire complained of four matters arising during the election campaign. In particular, the 7 March edition published the week before local government elections in Queensland contained photographs of mayoral candidates with the caption under Mr Bates’ headshot saying “… did not attend either of the mayoral candidates meetings in Biloela or Moura”.