Adjudication No. 1065 (November 1999)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint from the National Italian Australian Foundation against The Age over a report which linked a fatal shooting with the 'mafia'. The complaint also covered a background by-lined article by The Age's crime reporter.

The victim, described as a formerly prominent Melbourne fruit and vegetable wholesaler, was shot in the head as he arrived in his car for work at a Toorak supermarket about 3 am. The report was headed "Mafia link in execution of Melbourne fruiterer". It described the death as an 'execution-style murder', and it drew attention to an inquest seven years earlier in which the 1999 victim was implicated'. A witness at the 1992 inquest spoke in terms that suggested the 1999 victim knew who had ordered the 1992 killing.

Within a few days of the publication of the story, The Age published reports which showed that the police had concluded that there appeared to be no link between the 1999 killing and the 1992 inquest. In fact, the 1999 victim had the same name but was not the person implicated at the 1992 inquest.

Allowing that, the Press Council nevertheless believes that it was not unreasonable for The Age to suggest the link in the initial report, given the history of gang killings that have occurred around Melbourne's fruit and vegetable markets.

The Italian Australian Foundation complains about what it describes as a slander on the Italo-Australian community and it criticises the paper for causing additional pain to the family of the victim of the slaying. However, it remains true that a small minority of that community has been found to operate in what can reasonably be called mafia-style.

Further, the use of the term 'mafia' no longer implies only an Italian fringe group; the US has to deal with a largely indigenous mafia, and today Russia and the broken-up republics of the old USSR commonly use the term 'mafia' to describe their criminal elements. It has become a generic term.

The Press Council also bears in mind that, in the background article, The Age crime reporter, who has more than 20 years experience in the area, did write in his second paragraph that it was "too early to say" the 1999 killing was "the latest in a series of shootings that began in 1963, but it is fair to say that homicide squad detectives will be looking to the Melbourne wholesale fruit and vegetable market to get some answers".

return to
Adjudication index

[ return to top ]

Documents with the icon require the Acrobat Reader, a Free Utility from Adobe. Click here for more information.