Distorted Associations

The Scouting Association has asked the Council to consider negative stereotyping arising from the linking of scouting with those charged with sex offences.

Following a report in a regional daily newspaper, the Press Council was approached by Scouting Australia about what that association saw as distorted and negative reporting. The association was "alarmed at the sensationalist approach to the reporting of a sexual assault charge" which was headlined "Scout leader on sex counts".

The newspaper published a letter to the editor from the Chief Executive of Scouting Australia as the lead letter four days later. That letter read, in part:

I was disappointed to read your headline... While I recognise and applaud the need to report such child abuse, it is alleged in your article that the child abuse offences took place whilst the offender was a "Senior Welfare Officer" not as a Scout Leader, yet your headline (the largest in that edition) is an obvious slur on the Scout Movement.

The Scout Association has been very active in the fight against child abuse and conducts police and personnel reference checks on all prospective adult members. ...

The Scout Association receives tremendous support from all sections of the local media ..., however it is disappointing to see a misleading headline which can only upset the thousands of [local] youth who enjoy the wide range of exciting activities provided by The Scout Association.

The association noted that it had no objection to the truth being reported in a balanced way but thought that such reporting should not unfairly undermine any group or organisation.

It did not want to press a complaint against the particular newspaper but its concern was of a more general nature. "It seems that the media will jump at any opportunity whenever it presents itself to tie Scouting to sexual abuse. In recent times, other publications have used the word 'scout' as a headline in cases where a person, subject to criminal sexual charges, may have been a Scout Leader at some distant time in the past."

The Council, looking at the matter, decided to seek from editors their advice as to whether they believed that newspapers tended to make such negative associations with scouting or other organisations when reporting sexual and child abuse cases. It also sought a more detailed letter from Scouting Australia, detailing its general concerns with such negative stereotyping.

Capital city dailies

Among the responses received from the metropolitan media, Chris McLeod, from Melbourne's Herald and Weekly Times, argued that "the issue raised by the Scouts is not a peripheral one.

"The media's role is not to be suspicious of or create suspicion about Scouts, priests or anyone else. But its role is to put all available and relevant information before the reading public and to question whether the trust placed in such groups and individuals is being abused. Only in that we can the reading public make considered decisions and form opinions."

People were concerned with the actions of those who work with children. Mr McLeod said that the HWT's policy on such matters is "to report all information that is relevant. On the question of the actions of someone on such serious charges, surely it is relevant to report as much detail as possible. Parents in particular have every right to know about matters relating to people in whose care they place children."

Steve Foley, the Executive Editor of The Age, Melbourne, wrote that The Age did not have a set policy on such cases but he would deal with the general principle.

He thought that, where the issue involves the vulnerable in our community, minors, the aged or incapacitated, newspapers have an obligation to protect their interests. "Child sexual abuse is an area where the newspaper has an absolute responsibility to alert parents and supervisors to the risks," he said.

Because he believed that such reports should not besmirch the innocents or draw on associations which are at best tenuous, Mr Foley understood the Scout Association's sensitivity to this particular case. "My own feeling is that the headline in the case cited was unfair. ...

"Nevertheless I believe the newspaper was right to report in the text that the offender had been involved with the scouts."

Mr Foley concluded, "I would say newspapers are responsible to the public first. Editors, in particular, have a moral duty to alert adults to the dangers facing children. I believe most managements would approve of this.

"This is not to say the reputation of a worthy organisation is unimportant but, in my opinion, where safety is concerned sensitivities come second."

Regional Newspapers

Many of the concerns expressed about negative reports relate to newspapers published outside the capital cities. The editors of several such newspapers responded to the Council. Bruce Hinchliffe, from the Toowoomba Chronicle, thought the matter a serious one and deserving of Council attention.

"... the heading is grossly unfair in that it tends to cast a slur on the Scouting movement, tying it with sexual abuse. The Chronicle adheres to reporting guidelines that ban the use of peripheral connections of those charged with any crime, until such connections are provided to a court hearing. We also discourage the use in crime or court reporting of such specific and defining terms (when referring to the accused) as 'University of Southern Queensland student' or 'soldier at 110 Wireless Regiment, Borneo Barracks' or 'reporter at The Chronicle'. We content ourselves with 'university student', or 'soldier', 'journalist', unless of course the defining description is relevant to the report."

Kevin Boyle, the editor of the Sunraysia Daily could recall one case of a complaint about a man who had allegedly assaulted young boys. The newspaper was specifically asked to mention the man's alleged Scouting affiliation at the request of the informants. They said they wished to make this link known as a warning to parents. He could not recall if this link to Scouts was detailed and the newspaper was not able to identify the offender because that might tend to identify the victims.

"As a general rule we should not shy away from mentioning the involvement of any organisation in an offence of this nature. We are bound to report any court case accurately and if the name of an organisation is mentioned, we would be bound to report the reference albeit strictly in context If a scout or member of any other organisation (eg: police, firemen, band members, cricket club) was in a similar situation, we would have to adopt the same policy, " he said.

Graham Vincent from the Geelong Advertiser said that, when a person charged with a sexual offence is a scout leader, Catholic brother, youth worker or the like, the fact should be reported. "And that applies if the person allegedly commits the offence against one of his/her charges or against another person not directly connected with the particular youth activity."

He argued that, while there may be a fallout to the relevant organisation, the charged person's involvement in some form of youth affairs is of public interest. However, he saw that there could be exceptions to the rule ... and, in the Geelong Advertiser's case, every court story is treated on its merit.

Advocate

"I believe the scouting movement has to realise that it has a responsibility to the community in this regard and must be accountable if one of its officials is found wanting in the area of the standards set by the organisation, no matter who he is working for at the time," argued the Burnie Advocate's Henry Catchpole.

He noted that "the Church" has taken quite a lot of criticism for similar offences by some priests - and in some cases they were not working specifically as priests at the time of the incidents. Yet "the Church" has accepted its responsibility in this regard and has become accountable.

Mr Catchpole asked if a prominent figure in a town - say, a newspaper editor - is secretary of a golf club and is charged with embezzling golf club funds, would the media merely refer to this person as 'a golf club secretary'?

He also objected to the scout chief executive's generalisation: 'It seems the media will jump at any opportunity whenever it presents itself to tie scouting to sexual abuse.' "Like many other people who like to lump all sections of the media together, the writer should be more selective and say which section of the media he is talking about," he replied.

In response to the questions asked by the Press Council, Mr Catchpole said that he did not believe the issue raised by the Scout Association is a serious one in Australian newspaper reporting. "By and large, Australian newspapers, particularly in the regional sphere, are responsible, caring publishing vehicles within the community and even if such issues were raised and publicised, it would be done discreetly. We have general guidelines on reporting which cover issues such as the one highlighted here. They come under the heading of fair reporting."

Scouting's argument

William G Wells, the Chief Commissioner of Scouting Australia, took up the Council's offer to write a letter about the association's more general concerns with the linking of Scouting to those charged with sexual offences.

It must be said that Scouting receives a great volume of positive exposure in various media forms, particularly outside the major capital cities throughout Australia.

[Mr Wells attached] are some examples of distorted references to Scouting published over the past couple of years that have forced us to defend our good name, caused anxiety to many of our 22,000 volunteer male and female Scout Leaders and had many parents question the value of Scouting for their children.

We object strongly to the use of "Scout Leader" in the headlines of articles when the incident being reported has no link with Scouting, such as the ... article [cited] ...

Our primary objective is the positive development of life skills in the youth of Australia and the World with membership of over 17 million and we would only ask that all your members act responsibly and not seek to unfairly associate Scouting with child abuse and other criminal acts of members of the public who are or may have been Scout Leaders.

It seems that some journalists will do almost anything to gain public attention and we felt that Channel 9's A Current Affair representatives in July 1993 were very devious in gathering footage for one of their programs and in the way they used voice overs to reflect negatively on Scouting.

Scouting, being the largest volunteer personal development organisation in Australia with over 100,000 families directly involved at 2,500 locations, effectively everywhere there are people, seems to be an easy target for unnecessary adverse reporting. This can only blot our image and make it much more difficult to obtain community support which is so necessary to our continuing success in developing youth life skills.

We welcome the action being taken by [the Council] and would be pleased to become involved in any way that can lead to more responsible and balanced reporting.

A further case

More recently, while this article was being prepared, Michael Keats, the National Executive Officer of the Scout Association of Australia, referred to a further case in which a newspaper referred to a convicted sex offender as a "former trainee scout leader" in the opening paragraph of a story about his conviction.

The state's chief commissioner had written to the newspaper and received a reply defending the use of the reference. Mr Keats noted that the association is not at all satisfied with the response from the newspaper.

"The Association is on the public record as taking the most progressive initiatives to ensure that paedophiles and sex offenders do not enter the Scouting Movement. Those that do are removed as quickly as they are discovered," he wrote. "Our Leader Selection process involves a through investigation of each individuals background. If there is the slightest suggestion that an individual may cause offence then that individual is denied the opportunity to become an adult leader.

"The nature of the human mind in wanting titillating and provocative reading materials is perhaps acceptable as editorial policy, but it is damaging in the extreme to the Scout Association of Australia which is doing its utmost to inculcate moral values into young people. It is regrettable in the extreme that these efforts are undermined by journalistic license."

The Press Council review

The Council, having looked at the correspondence, did not feel the necessity to issue a guideline or press release on the matter, at this stage. Noting that there did not appear to a widespread practice of gratuitous linkage of organisations to people charged with sex offences, the Council considered that the best way of dealing with the matter was on a case by case basis. It also refers the matter to the consideration of each newspaper (and group) affiliated with it.

This article is a part of that process and the Council looks forward to a continuing debate on this matter.

Jack R Herman

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