Adjudication No. 1394  (adjudicated June 2008)

The Press Council has upheld a complaint by the Northern Grampians Shire Council against the Stawell Times-News about a front page lead article and an editorial on 14 March relating to the problems in establishing an aircraft service business in Stawell.

The article was based on an interview with the proprietor of the business who described his problems in securing a lease from the shire council and the difficulty in getting power and other services connected.

He criticised the shire council and its planning staff over the lease negotiations including the length of the lease and also said he could not start the operation without connected power.

The shire council complained that the newspaper had not contacted it before the publication to seek comment or explanation; there were factual errors in the report; and the editorial built upon the inaccuracies to draw invalid conclusions and criticisms.

The shire council said it had available a prepared statement on the matter from its CEO, which it provided to the ABC before it broadcast a report on the problems of the same business, but the newspaper did not contact it before publication. It said it would have also provided background on the issue.

A shire council officer prepared a proposed correction and apology which the shire council wanted published on page one with equal prominence. The newspaper said it would not publish it in the proposed format. After a meeting between the editor and the CEO, the newspaper published on page three an apology in which it corrected the statement that the businessman was in a battle with the shire council to negotiate a fair lease when in fact the lease had already been signed.

The newspaper offered space for the local council to give its views on the matter in a story quoting a council officer or in a letter to the editor. The shire council rejected the offer saying it would "seem we are just defending ourselves, therefore attracting further criticism, and the matter will go on and on and on".

The Northern Grampians CEO said he was not satisfied with the published correction and apology as it minimised the scale of the error and failed to apologise for not giving him the opportunity to correct the facts or seek comment.

Because the newspaper failed to contact the local council before publication to ensure fairness and balance on such a contentious issue where the shire council was being attacked, accompanied by editorial criticism, the Press Council upholds the complaint.

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