Adjudication No. 1363  (adjudicated August 2007)

The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint from Mark Longstaff, Principal of the Port Macquarie High School, about an article in the Holiday Coast Pictorial, a monthly publication circulating in the Port Macquarie region, in March 2007 under the heading These people are teaching our children.

The article, written under the byline of the publication's managing editor, appeared to be a report of a demonstration by local teachers, students and parents against the Prime Minister during a visit to Port Macquarie and included strong comments on the behaviour of the demonstrators.

Mr Longstaff says that the article is both inaccurate and unbalanced. He denies several of the assertions made within the article, including those that appear to suggest that the teachers "took a day off".

The Holiday Coast Pictorial defends the article, stating it was a "commentary" piece. It says it was not an article about the actual protest, but more about the demonstrated behaviour observed among students, teachers and parents present on the day. The Principal of the Australian Technical College, which had hosted the Prime Ministerial visit, endorsed the article's comments, supporting the publication in a letter to the Press Council after he had been made aware of the complaint.

The Council recognises the traditional right of editors to make comments, even strong comments, on issues. Nonetheless, in the Council's view, the article lacks fairness on two grounds. It contains extensive comments from Port Macquarie Hastings Council Mayor Rob Drew critical of the demonstration but no balancing comments from Mr Longstaff or others involved in the protest. Secondly, the article does not treat readers fairly by making clear that it is intended to be an opinion piece, and not a report, and does not clearly distinguish fact from opinion within the piece.

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