News in brief - February 1998

Prize 1997-1998

The Australian Press Council has announced the terms of entry for its 1997-98 award. The Prize is awarded for the best essay submitted on a set topic. In 1997-98, the topic is:

Discuss the responsibility of the press in keeping the public informed while, at the same time, respecting the privacy and sensibilities of individuals. Press Council principle 3 reads: "Readers of publications are entitled to have news and comment presented to them honestly and fairly, and with respect for the privacy and sensibilities of individuals. However, the right to privacy should not prevent publication of matters of public record or obvious or significant public interest. Rumour and unconfirmed reports, if published at all, should be identified as such."

Entries are invited in two categories: tertiary students (as at 30 June 1998), who will have a 2,500 word limit; and secondary students (as at 30 June 1998), with a 1,500 word limit.

Winners in each category will be selected by a panel of judges, and a prize of up to $1,500 will be awarded in each category.

The final date for receipt of submissions is 30 June 1998.

Entries should be typescript and double-spaced. The Council specifies that entries demonstrate some effort to research the topic and argue it seriously. Entries must list all references consulted. Further details can be obtained from the Press Council office.

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Filler Ad

The Council has redesigned and reprinted a draft "filler" ad which is made available to all newspapers who are prepared to run it whenever they have spare space of the appropriate size. The ad is available in one-, two-, and three- (newspaper) column formats. The three-column ad looks like this: Copies of the ad are available from the Council office for any periodical that wants to run it. Translations into some community languages will be made.

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Japanese Delegation

In November, the Council met with a delegation from the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations. The delegation was in Australia looking particularly at media (self)-regulation and at the reporting of the identity of accused before the courts. The delegation observed the Complaints Committee and Freedom of the Press Committee meetings and had formal discussions with a number of members of the Council and with a complainant and a representative of a newspaper attending a hearing. The following day part of the delegation observed the Council meeting and had further discussions with some members of the Council to clarify questions arising from their observations.

It was related by a delegation member that they had been in Sweden some years earlier and were told that if they wanted to observe the "best Press Council" in operation they should visit the Australian Press Council. Japan has a constitutional guarantee of a free press but does not have a Press Council. The delegation thought it unlikely that there would be one soon but was most interested in the process.

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Reconciliation

At the Australian Reconciliation Convention held in Melbourne in May 1997, recommendations of relevance to the media were adopted. The Press Council brings to the attention of the print media the emphasis from the convention that there is a need to engage the media more substantially in the reconciliation process and, in particular, endorses the proposition that

The Australian Reconciliation Convention encourages the media to present, as far as possible, a balanced, accurate and researched view on racial issues.

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Submissions

Information Technologies

The Australian Press Council has made a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Information Technologies on its Inquiry into Self-regulation in the Information and Communications Industries. It is concentrating on a term of reference

to evaluate the appropriateness, effectiveness and privacy implications of the existing self-regulatory framework in relation to the information and communications industries and, in particular, the adequacy of the complaints regimes.

The Council expressed the view that its background and experience of the self-regulation of the print media would provide useful information to the committee. It asserted broadly that self-regulation has been shown to work for the print media and should be applied generally in the communications industries.

On the particular aspect of privacy, the Council noted that it looks at, and has ruled on, the ethical legitimacy of alleged intrusions by invasive means into private property and believes such intrusions by the press are not a serious concern in Australia. It argued that the existence of private databases and the integration of them was a far greater threat to privacy.

The submission was reprinted as a supplement to the February issue of the News.

The Council's Executive Secretary, Jack Herman, and one of its editor members, John Morgan, appeared before the Committee at its Sydney hearings to respond to questions from the Committee.

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Constitutional Convention

The Australian Press Council has made a submission to the Constitutional Convention meeting in Canberra in February 1998 calling on it to consider possible changes to the Australian Constitution, in particular that the Australian Constitution should be changed to entrench a guarantee of freedom of speech and of the press. The submission is reprinted as a supplement to this issue of the News.

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Suicide and Mental Illness

The Australian Press Council after consultation with its Constituent Bodies, the mainstream print publishers and publishers' associations, in particular News Limited, John Fairfax Publications, Australian Associated Press, the Herald and Weekly Times, West Australian Newspapers and Australian Consolidated Press responded to the consultation draft of the MEDIA RESOURCE KIT for the reporting and portrayal of suicide in Australia released by Suicide Prevention Australia and the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention.

Material from this response forms the basis for the article on page one of this issue of the News.

The Council and its Constituent Bodies have also been involved in a consultation on a draft Resource Kit on the reporting of mental illness, being prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services and have been dealing with a proposal from the Minister and department for a joint statement on the reporting of suicide. The Council has indicated to the department that its view of the media's role in the reporting of suicide is different from the department's.

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On the Council

Margaret Jones, one of the Council's two journalist members, retires at the end of February after nine years on the Council. When the then AJA withdrew from the Council in 1987, two of the journalist representatives elected by the AJA membership, Peter Costigan and Pat Burgess, remained on the Council. Margaret Jones was appointed one of their alternates in 1988 and, in February 1989, she replaced Pat Burgess as a full member.

During a distinguished career with the Sydney Morning Herald, including time as a correspondent in the UK during the early Thatcher era and in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, Margaret also served as Literary Editor and Foreign Editor at various times. She had retired from the Herald before she was invited to join the Council.

The Press Council has been strengthened by her back-ground in practical journalism and by her ability to see complaints from a professional perspective, leavened by her own independent view of ethical matters. Margaret has also served as a member of the ABC's Independent Complaints Review Panel.

To mark her retirement, Margaret Jones has contributed an article, giving her unique perspective on the Council, which is printed in this issue of the News.

In other developments, Linda Smith, who briefly acted as alternate to the Herald and Weekly Times representative, Chris McLeod, has transferred from HWT to Pacific Publications. As a result, she is unable to continue on the Council and her place has been taken by Sally Ham, the Editorial Office Manager for HWT.

Since taking up his position as Chairman of the Council, Professor Dennis Pearce has been busy meeting with the editors and executives of major Australian newspapers, to gauge their view of the Council and keep abreast of developments in the industry. He has held meetings so far in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.

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Regional Dailies of Australia

The Council received notification of the winding up of RDA, the industry body representing non-metropolitan daily newspapers, and a Constituent Member of the Council. It has put in place arrangements to keep the former member newspapers affiliated directly with the Council.

All former members of the RDA have undertaken to maintain the financial obligations of the Association on a pro rata basis, at least until the end of the current financial year and have agreed that Lloyd Whish-Wilson, general manager of The Launceston Examiner, will continue to represent them on the Council. The situation will be reviewed later in the year.

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Mediated Complaints

The Press Council encourages the informal resolution of complaints, including the use of direct mediation between the parties. Among the complaints successfully mediated by the Press Council office in the last few months are the following:

• A candidate for the Constitutional Convention believed she was unfairly linked with the far right. She complained to the Press Council that the bylined article defamed her and that an offence under the Electoral Act may have been committed by the journalist. The complainant had already submitted a letter to the editor. The paper was concerned at its contents and refused to publish it. The parties agreed on a suitable letter, which was published in the next edition.
  
  
• An article examined a complainant's colourful past. She complained that there were a number of fallacies and inaccuracies in the article, and requested an apology and correction. The secretariat requested clarification, and the complainant provided proof of some of her assertions. After the paper submitted a number of versions of a proposed clarification, an agreement was reached between the parties. The clarification was published in a prominent position, in the same section of the paper that the original article appeared.
  
  
• A complainant's professional reputation had allegedly been damaged by a series of articles and the paper failed to publish the outcome of his compensation hearing. The secretariat requested and obtained a legal waiver. After negotiation, the paper agreed to publish a letter from the complainant's solicitor outlining the out-of-court settlement to his dispute with his employer.
  
  
• An article about a court hearing contained a number of inaccuracies. The complainant, a priest, believed his reputation had been harmed by allegations in the article that he was an adulterer, and that he had been defrocked by the church. The secretariat liaised with the paper via the telephone. The paper agreed to publish a clarification, on page two. The complainant was satisfied with the action of the paper.
  
  
• A paper published an inaccurate statement in an editorial on the new Australian flag debate. The complainant, an association interested in the topic, wrote to the paper demanding it publish a correction of the error. The secretariat suggested that the complainant submit a letter to the editor. The paper dealt directly with the complainant, and together agreed on a suitable letter which was immediately published.

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University Course

The University of Melbourne Law School offers specialist courses towards a Graduate Diploma in Media, Communications and Information Technology Law for lawyers, journalists etc. Among courses being offered this year are (first semester) Broadcasting and Telecommunications Law and (second semester) The Media and the State. There are also intensive courses in associated subjects. More information is available from the University of Melbourne Law School (fax: (03) 9347 9129).

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Contempt Bill

In the November 1997 issue of the News, there was discussion of the Costs in Criminal Cases Amendment Bill then before the NSW parliament. This Bill would tax the media for any trials aborted as a result of contemptuous reporting. After representations from both the print and electronic media, the Bill has been referred to the Law Reform Commission for further consideration.

The Press Council's Freedom of the Press Committee has determined to look further at the question of contempt and has asked one of the Council's members to draft a discussion paper on the current situation with the law of contempt and on reforms to it which the Council can suggest.

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Books

The Council has recently received two books on similar subjects. Prof Mark Pearson, a past winner of the Press Council prize, has written The Journalist's Guide to Media Law, a well-written guide for the layman detailing the problems and difficulties that a reporter can get into with respect to the law, particularly defamation, contempt, copyright and freedom of information. The book is illustrated by case studies which outline the current status of the common law and case law in the various areas where the journalist encounters the legal system. The book takes account of very recent developments, including the High Court's Lange decision - Pearson gives a fairly optimistic spin to the decision. It is written in a very accessible style and is sufficiently referenced and has case law detail of sufficient depth to be of great utility to the practising journalist. Published by Allen and Unwin, its recommended price is $24.95.

Melbourne lawyer Geoffrey Gibson has updated Prof Geoff Sawer's Guide to Australian Law for Journalists and it has been published as The Journalist's Companion to Australian Law. Gibson's approach is essentially an A-Z guide with each subject presented and outlined and then important cases discussed. More comprehensive, in its attempts to cover every topic, than Pearson, it lacks the depth and accessibility of the other work. Some of the categorisation is interesting. The Press Council, for example, is found under "Regulation of the Media" - and the only index is the "Principal Entries" summary at the start. Gibson also includes an analysis of Lange. The book has a preface by Prof David Flint, written when he was Chair of the Press Council and he is still thus described even though he no longer holds that position. Published by Melbourne University Press, its recommended price is $29.95.

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