Mediating Complaints

Very few complaints are actually adjudicated. Many more are settled by agreement between the parties. And now an additional mediation avenue, utilising local public members of the Council, is available. Jack R Herman reports.

The Press Council is often mentioned in a newspaper only when one of its adjudications against that publication is printed. Yet only one in five formal complaints ends up in an adjudication issued by the Council.

Over twice as many complaints are resolved amicably by the intervention of the Council secretariat or by a mediation overseen by a Public Member of the Council. Because these settlements are not presented as a finding of the Council, the Council's role can be overlooked.

Since its inception the Council has attempted to resolve matters amicably. The 'mediation' of complaints is one of the highest priorities given to the Executive Secretary, the Council's chief executive officer. The Executive Secretary and his staff rarely convene face-to-face meetings of the parties, but seek the publication's co-operation in the resolution of complaints by the open admission of error; through the publication of a clarification, correction or apology; or by the publication of follow-up, balancing material.

In appropriate cases, the Council has convened an assessment panel, consisting of members of the Council, to try and resolve matters without formal adjudication. And on rare occasions, the Complaints Committee, which conducts hearings that the parties can attend, has brought the complainant and the publication to a settlement of the matter on amicable terms.

In the last few months, the Council has introduced a further attempt to resolve matters by agreement. In cases where the secretariat has not been able to resolve matters, but both parties feel that it is still resolvable, the Council seeks to convene a mediation organised and supervised by a Public Member of the Council.

Intervention by the office

"Apology". "Correction". A single word headline, in bold type.

These public acknowledgments of wrong-doing by a publication are significant. They are often reached through direct negotiation between the publication and the complainant. A few can result from an approach by lawyers, although such approaches usually bog down in the exchange of legal correspondence.

And then there are those which are facilitated through the Press Council. The mission of the Press Council's secretariat is to attempt to resolve complaints before they reach the adjudication stage. (The Council keeps records only of 'formal' complaints, those that have been received in writing. But it gets many phone inquiries that never reach the formal stage because the office's advice leads to an amicable settlement between the parties.)

Sometimes the Council's alternative dispute resolution (often where the Council acts as a go-between, using its good offices to arrange a settlement) results in the publication of an apology, clarification or correction.

A recent example was an article, published by a regional daily, covering the story of a budding Porn Queen. Many readers were offended by this article, particularly so as it was published on the page opposite school photographs. The Council took up the matter with the newspaper and this led to the paper apologising, promptly and with some prominence.

As did a trade magazine which had published an inaccurate article which had negative implications for a complainant's business. Its apology also contained a correction.

On other occasions, Press Council intervention can lead to the publication of other follow-up material, a further article, a letter or an opinion piece.

And then there are instances where publications have offered a mix of remedies. A complaint about a series of articles, which falsely reported donations made by a complainant to a political party, was resolved by a face to face meeting of the parties, organised by the Council's office. This led to the publication of a correction.

And the example of a magazine which, upon provision of a legal waiver, signed by the complainant, extended, in writing, a personal and unreserved apology to her for the embarrassment she suffered from an article which unfairly characterised her. The magazine also donated a sum of money to a charitable organisation.

Occasionally, the secretariat assists in obtaining a promise of future action, as it has from a regional daily. It had published an article on sex charges against an unnamed local councillor, which left all members of the shire council open to suspicion. The paper was inhibited by a suppression order against identifying the parties to the case. As a matter of fairness, it has agreed to publish an explanation, and an apology, at the end of the legal process.

Details on some other matters successfully settled by the office over the last six months are published at the end of this article.

Public Member mediation

The use of Public Members to mediate complaints is very new and has been only used on a couple of occasions so far. The Public Members, drawn from every state and from very different backgrounds, have been trained in classic mediation technique. This involves the member acting as a facilitator, bringing the parties to the table and assisting them to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement.

There have been two recent mediations by a Press Council Public Member, with mixed results

The first arose from a front-page article in a regional newspaper about a government authority, which complained of inaccuracies and misleading information while accepting the 'public right to know'. Such misinformation is unhelpful to the authority in carrying out its role and leads to emotive public response. The authority sought an undertaking that future articles will be adequately sourced and checked with the authority, and also sought an admission of the inaccuracies.

The newspaper, while conceding error in terms of inaccuracies, emphasised the public interest in the subject of the article and the public 'right to know', also stating that deadlines caused a problem in checking details.

Both parties showed a willingness to understand the other's point of view and to communicate their own. There was discussion of the reporter's allegedly insufficient efforts to check and validate his sources and information. Discussion was generally articulate, courteous, relevant and positive.

The mediation led to an agreed resolution: the authority will submit a five hundred word article explaining its role which the editor has undertaken to publish. (The position and date is to be discussed between the parties). The newspaper also took on board the issue of inaccuracies and, while explaining some limitations in terms of deadlines, accessibility of information and so on, undertook to continue to try and improve its efforts to ensure facts and sources are adequately checked.

Both parties expressed satisfaction with this outcome. In addition to the formal settlement of the matter, the informal round-table discussion served to improve relations between the parties, increase understanding of each other's roles and increase the probability of better communication in the future. There was even talk of a series of articles around the issues of relevance to the authority's role.

Second mediation

The subject of complaint was a series of articles published in a metropolitan newspaper, dealing with education issues. The complainant was an education lobby group which alleged that the series was inaccurate, not adequately researched, misleading and unfair. The group sought an acknowledgement from the newspaper that there had been misrepresentation of some significant issues.

The newspaper defended its coverage and denied totally the accusations as levelled and consequently refused outright to acknowledge any fault.

There was conversation around the issues of inaccuracy and misrepresentation with both parties maintaining their original stance; there was no movement on either side which would facilitate any satisfactory agreed outcome.

Despite the mediator's efforts to try to encourage some alternative thinking it was finally agreed that there was no possible meeting place on this issue; the group will now consider whether or not to proceed to the Complaints committee.

While the matter could not be satisfactorily resolved there was some small progress made in terms of understanding and communication. The newspaper made an offer to the group to publish some comment about any future curriculum review should there be developments in the group's area of interest. The group's representative accepted that the offer was there but was unsure whether the group would take it up.

Given that neither party felt able to make any concessions, or indeed to concede any ground at all, it was apparent that nothing was to be gained from any further discussion and the mediation was abandoned.

Other matters settled by the office

The office looks at a number of different ways of settling complaints. Its main aim to ensure that any settlement neutralises damage arising from the original material as far as it possible.

• A metropolitan and a regional daily newspaper published similar articles on the removal of a snail species from a Species List. The complainant believed there were a number of inaccuracies in the articles. Both papers subsequently published the complainant's letter in reply.
   
• A metropolitan newspaper incorrectly identified a poisonous fungus as "desirable produce". The paper, the following day, published colour photographs of a poisonous, and an edible fungus, which correctly identified them.
   
• The criminal record of a witness in a court case was wrongly described. With the help of the Press Council, the complainant was able to negotiate with the regional daily for a published clarification of his criminal record.
   
• An community-language magazine published an article which painted a negative picture of a complainant's product. A legal waiver was provided. The magazine then agreed to publish an edited version of the complainant's response setting out its reply to the article.
   
• A Sunday metropolitan newspaper published a photograph of a businesswoman. The photograph was one of a number taken. The complainant was not happy with the photograph the paper chose to publish. After discussion with the Council, the newspaper agreed to remove all the photographs in the series from its library.
   
• A complainant was unhappy that a regional daily suppressed the full story of the complainant's dealings with the legal system. The paper subsequently published an article on complainant's successful appeal.
   
• A metropolitan paper published an opinion piece on earth worshippers. The complainant was offended by the article. Responses from the Wilderness Society, and three similar letters to the editor, were published.
   
• A specialist magazine published an article which misrepresented a complainant's professional opinion. With the assistance of the secretariat, the parties negotiated a letter to the editor for publication.
   
• A metropolitan paper published a court report. The report was ambiguous, and could have led readers into thinking that the complainant had been convicted of a crime. The paper published a clarification of the article, distinguishing between the defendant and the complainant.
   
• An ethnic community newspaper published an article about a therapy centre. The complainant requested a correction of the inaccuracies in the article. The parties came to an amicable settlement through the publication of a balancing article on the issue.
   
• A Sunday metropolitan newspaper published a headline which included the word "schizos". Two complainants, whose family has been effected by schizophrenia, were offended by the headline. The paper offered to publish a letter from the complainants. They took up this offer, and were very happy that their opinion had been canvassed and that the newspaper had ensured its sub-editors were aware of the problem.
   
• A country newspaper misrepresented a local government employee. The paper acknowledged its error, and forwarded a written apology to the complainant.
   
• A series of articles, published by a metropolitan newspaper, falsely reported donations made by the complainant to the ALP. An editorial executive agreed to speak informally to him. A meeting ensued between the complainant and the chief-of-staff. The complainant was mollified by this meeting, and the publication of a correction.

JACK R HERMAN

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