News in brief - August 1997

Vice Chairman Retires

Dorothy Dickson Ross, 69, a founding Public Member of the Australian Press Council, retired from the Council in June this year, after twenty-one years of dedicated service to the Council.

Miss Ross was one of the three original representatives of the public appointed to the Council by the founding Chairman, Sir Frank Kitto. She had applied for membership after seeing an ad for the position. Now some 200 meetings, 900+ adjudications and 3 Chairmen later, she has left the Press Council for a well-earned retirement.

Dorothy Ross trained in the UK as a Physical Education teacher after she left school and returned to Australia to teach for a few years. But her heart was not in teaching but in the land and she bought 500 acres of the family's land near Holbrook, in southern NSW, in the mid 1950s and established her own grazing business, raising sheep, horses and cattle. She built a house on the property where she still lives, although not as a full-time farmer for some years.

She has always been active in the community. She has given decades of service to the Country Women's Association, rising to the position of National President and recently publishing a book to mark the association's seventy-fifth anniversary in NSW. She is active in the local Uniting Church and has contributed to a wide range of other community groups: consultant to the Law Reform Commission; member of the National Rural Advisory Council; council member of the Riverina CAE (now part of Charles Sturt University); and member of the CWA Rural Leadership Program.

For her services to the community, Miss Ross was awarded an OBE in 1975; the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 1977; an AM in 1991; and was made a Doctor of the University by Charles Sturt University in 1994.

As a member of the Press Council she was seen as the ultimate Public Member, conscious of her role as a representative of the "ordinary readers" of the press. Jennifer Treleaven, who worked with Miss Ross for 14 years as a staff member and later Executive Secretary of the Council, described her as "an extremely effective representative of the public ... Members of the Council have been impressed by her dedication, loyalty, integrity, tact and common sense". She served twice as Vice Chairman of the Council, from August 1977 until September 1985 and again from February 1987 until her retirement. For three months in 1984, after the resignation of Prof Geoffrey Sawer, she was acting Chairman of the Council.

As an ex-officio member of the Complaints Committee for most of her time on the Council, Miss Ross attended most complaints hearings held by the Council but she boasts that she has never drafted a single adjudication for the Council, deferring to more "expert members" of the Council when it came to writing. Yet her input has been felt in most of the 900+ adjudications to which she contributed more than any other member of the Council.

Prof David Flint, the current Chairman of the Council said of Miss Ross, at her retirement:

Dorothy has been a solid, upright defender of the rights of the public. Punctual and punctilious.

She brings great skills, for example, in chairing and guiding discussion to a sensible conclusion.

We particularly benefited from her personal experience and the fact that she comes from the rural community. It is most important in a national press council that the views of women and of rural communities are put into our discussions. Dorothy will be sorely missed.

Dorothy Ross has not always agreed with the Council's verdicts. In Deborah Kirkman's recent history, Whither the Australian Press Council?, she cites three particular adjudications with which she disagrees - in each case the Council dismissed what Miss Ross saw as important complaints: the portrayal of a woman wearing a dog collar on the front cover of, and poster for, People; the use of the term "God's myxo" to describe AIDS in, and the general tone of, a bylined opinion piece in a country newspaper; and the continued assertion of former NSW Premier Sir Robert Askin's alleged corruption in some Sydney papers.

In her copious spare time, Miss Ross wrote a weekly column, published in The Land, on behalf of the CWA for over 20 years and has indulged in her other passions: harness-driving, bush walking and watching cricket. In the mid 1970s she found the time also to run twice for the Senate as a Country Party candidate, missing a seat by 850 votes, after a recount, in the double dissolution election of 1975 and then losing a close battle to the Democrat candidate in the battle for the sixth seat in 1977.

Dorothy Ross brought a straight-forward honesty and vigour to the Press Council and has kept up her enthusiasm for the body through its first twenty-one years. Her contributions will be missed but her spirit will continue through the successive Public Members she has inspired.

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Chairman appointed to ABA

At its meeting on 31 July, the Australian Press Council congratulated its Chairman, Professor David Flint, on his appointment as the Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, effective from 5 October 1997.

The Vice Chairman was asked to consult widely with members on the implications of Prof Flint's appointment for the future chairmanship of the Press Council.

At its August meeting, the Council will determine what, if any, action it needs to take in the light of the appointment.

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Lange Powell appointed Vice Chairman

At its meeting on 31 July, the Australian Press Council elected Lange Powell as its new Vice Chairman. Mr Powell replaces Dorothy Ross who retired from the Council at the end of June.

Mr Powell, 49, a Public Member of the Council since March 1985, is the Director, Business Development, of the South Australian Housing Trust, a position he has held since October 1995. Prior to that he was, for five years, the South Australian Commissioner for the Ageing. An interview with Mr Powell appeared in the February 1993 News.

The Vice Chairman, who must be a Public Member of the Council, deputises for the Chairman in his absence and is a member of all Council committees including the Complaints Committee which hears all complaints to be adjudicated by the Council and recommends what action the Council should take in such matters.

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On the Council

Natascha McNamara, an alternate public member of the Council since 1993, has been appointed a Public member of the Council in the place created by Miss Ross' retirement.

Natascha is the Managing Director of Accord Cross Cultural Developments. She is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with the Centre of Indigenous Development Education and Research at the University of Wollongong. She has been involved in (and is active in) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander matters for over thirty years and has published many reports and articles. For her pioneering work in education and management she was awarded first an MBE and later and AM. Natascha, who has sat on many Boards for both government and Aboriginal bodies and has a wide range of contacts in many fields pertaining to Aboriginal Development, brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the Press Council.

The Council has decided to advertise in Victoria for a new public member alternate, to become a member of the panel from which alternates are invited to Council meetings when a Public Member is unable to attend. The following ad has been placed in Victorian newspapers.

Advertisement

Applications are invited from interested persons in Victoria for appointment to the Australian Press Council as an alternate member, representing the public.

The Council is concerned with the maintenance of the standards of the press and to that end adjudicates on complaints against the press, and considers matters affecting freedom of the press.

The Constitution of the Council provides that public members and alternates shall be appointed from persons otherwise unconnected with the press.

Further information may be obtained from the office of the Council, 149 Castlereagh Street, Sydney 2000. Telephone: (02) 9261 1930 or (1800) 025712; fax: (02) 9267 6826; email: pressco@fl.net.au

Applications should be addressed to the Executive Secretary, to reach him by 31 August 1997.

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Lange v. ABC

The Press Council made an amicus curiae submission to the High Court in this matter (and in Levy v. State of Victoria). The Council's Chairman analyses the judgment in his column in this issue. It is interesting to note that the Council's written amicus submission was accepted by the High Court - apparently the first time such a submission has been accepted by the Court.

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Submissions

The Council has made two submissions in largely similar terms to the NSW Law Reform Commission on its Issues Paper, Review of Visual and Aural Surveillance Devices and to the Legal, Constitutional and Administrative Review Committee of the Queensland Legislative Assembly on its Issues Paper, Privacy in Queensland. Both submissions argue that the Council sees no public interest in the introduction of laws which would regulate news gathering activities, in public, whether or not assisted by unusual skills or manufactured devices. The submissions note that the Council itself has ruled on the ethical legitimacy of alleged intrusions by invasive means into private property and believes that such intrusions by the press are not a serious concern in Australia.

A copy of the Council's submission to the Law Reform Commission is included in this issue of the News, as a supplement.

The Council has also indicated its support for the recommendations in a report, Publicity in Family Law Cases, arising from a reference from the Commonwealth Attorney-General. These recommendations, which will facilitate wider reporting of cases, the Council says, are broadly consistent with its views in a submission to a Joint Select Committee in 1991 (printed as a supplement to the APC News, Vol. 3, No. 4, November 1991.)

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Mediated Complaints

In the last three months, a number of complaints submitted to the Press Council have been resolved amicably. This is a representative sample:

• A series of articles dealt with the deaths of a father and his daughters. The complainant, the sister of the man, cited numerous breaches of Press Council principles. The editor admitted the original article was an error of judgment and published a follow-up which ameliorated any harm.
  
  
• An article on a professional body's views on a medical procedure was inaccurate. The editor spoke directly with the complainant and published follow-up articles in the next two editions of the publication.
  
  
• A paper had used the word Macedonia instead of the term Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). An item drawing the attention of all print media publishers to the use of FYROM was published in the May 1997 edition of the News.
  
  
• A complainant believed he had been unfairly treated in a series of articles. An exchange of correspondence took place and the matter was listed for hearing in July. At the last minute, the parties held direct talks and the paper agreed to publish follow-up material. The complainant was satisfied and the hearing cancelled.
  
  
• A paper incorrectly reported that a new product did not meet Australian standards. A correction to the story was published. The complainant was satisfied with the correction.
  
  
• A City Council and an ethnic association complained separately about a columnist's opinion piece which maligned a specific ethnic group. The complainants submitted letters to the editor, a month apart, and both were published by the newspaper.
  
  
• The Deputy Prime Minister of a near neighbour complained that a false headline was the sort of thing which could lead to a major diplomatic incident. The complainant's letter was published in full. He thanked the Press Council for its assistance.

NOTE: The Press Council office tries first to resolve appropriate complaints before processing them formally. Such intervention frequently results in an amicable settlement.

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An edited letter

In Adjudication No 925, the Council dismissed a complaint about the editing of a letter. Here is the full letter with the omissions in italics. What do you think?

When Terry McCrann (CM 27/12/96) says that 'No one can predict the future', things are indeed looking grim.

The future is what we create through the actions we take in the present. If no action is taken, then our present becomes our future.

Our small businesses are going broke by the dozens. Our unemployment figures show no signs of improving. All we seem to do is rely on the reduction of interest rates to help us with our economic recovery.

Surely we should realise that we are strangulating the goose that lays the golden eggs. Where is the motive to start a new business? Where are the perks and lurks in business gone? All the incentives which once existed in business are now taxed. Why should a person take risks with his capital and virtually work for the social service department?

Reduced interest rates can only help big businesses and those who could afford to pay a mortgage. They cannot help the unemployed. They cannot help those who are afraid of losing their jobs. And they cannot help those old age pensioners who rely on interest as their income.

Unless we identify all the disincentives in the system and get rid of them, how can we possibly motivate the individual? We should also create new incentives. There is no reason why we should not introduce a consumption tax at the same time to balance our budget.

All this requires a sense of urgency. If our governments, state and federal, do not act now and keep playing politics, it means that we are heading for a miserable future. Who says that no one can predict the future?

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