Adjudication No. 1436  (adjudicated September 2009)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint from Rob Perkovic against The Sunday Telegraph, Sydney, relation to an article titled Scientology's $12m renovation rescue for Sydney HQ published on May 31, 2009.

The article reports on the upgrade of the Church of Scientology's Sydney headquarters. It reports on the cost of the upgrade, conditions of the development application, the number of supporters and objectors to the application, the number of members within Australia and notes some high-profile media personalities who are members. Comment was provided on the upgrade by a member of the Church.

Mr Perkovic has complained that the headline and article are misleading and unbalanced. He objected to the use of the word 'rescue' in the headline and to 'trawling' used to describe the Church's recruitment activities.

The Telegraph stated that the use of 'renovation rescue' was the language of pop-culture vernacular and that the use of 'trawling' was descriptive, and was not meant to be offensive.

The Council finds that the article and headline are neither misleading nor unbalanced.

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