News in brief - November 1998

The Council is On-line
Prize 1997-98 and 1998-99
Dorothy Dickson Ross, AM, OBE
Submissions
Uuniform Defamation Laws
Publications
Mediated Complaints
World Association of Press Councils
On the Council
Letters to the Editor
Correction - Annual Report 22

The Council is On-line

The Council has uploaded its website which is now active. The website includes an on-line complaints form which can be submitted to complaints@presscouncil.org.au. For all other, correspondence, the Council's preferred email site is info@presscouncil.org.au.

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1997-8 and 1998-9 APC Prize

The results of the Australian Press Council Prize for 1997-98 and the entry details for the 1998-99 Prize were reprinted. The Eunice Liu's winning secondary school essay was also published.

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Dorothy Dickson Ross, AM, OBE

The Council has noted, with regret, the passing on 13 October of its long-time public member and long-serving Vice Chairman, Dorothy Ross. The Council recorded its admiration for Miss Ross in the Minutes of its October meeting and observed a minute's silence in her memory. An obituary of Miss Ross, written by the Council's Office Manager, Deborah Kirkman, was also published.

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Submissions

In August, the Council made a submission to the Department of Justice, Victoria, on its Discussion Paper, "Surveillance Devices Bill, July 1998". The Council argued that there is 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 Council argued that intrusions by invasive means into private property by the press are not a serious concern in Australia. The Council also expressed its concern that some provisions of the draft Bill will hinder the publication of the news to the detriment of Victorians.

In October, the Council made a submission to the NSW Attorney General's Department on possible guidelines for access to state records under part 6 of the State Records Act 1998. The Press Council endorsed the concept of full access to state records after thirty years, except in certain limited cases. The Council proposes a very strict assessment process and an immediate appeals procedure.

Full texts of both submissions were published as enclosures with this issue. They are also available on the Council's website.

Additionally, the Council has written to the NSW Premier seeking his response to suggestions from the NSW Department of Health that publications must deliberately alter news pictures which contain incidental reference to tobacco products. The Council, referring to GPR 220, noted that the department was urging the newspapers to act unethically.

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Uniform Defamation Law

The Australian Press Council has written to the federal, state and territory Attorneys-General requesting them to resume discussions with the aim of achieving uniform defamation laws throughout Australia as quickly as possible.

The Council said that, for publishers and the general public, national uniformity of communications law is essential in an environment where delivery of information now knows no territorial boundaries. All members of the public should have access to the same information. Newspapers should be able to report the news of the day on an Australia-wide basis without the fear of exposure to litigation in one jurisdiction, and not in another.

The Council is concerned that the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, at a meeting earlier this year, removed the review of defamation law from its agenda. This decision was described at the time by federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams as "very disappointing". The Press Council agrees with Mr Williams' assessment that the present position of there being separate defamation laws in each state and territory is bad for business and the community.

The Council acknowledged, in its letter to the Attorneys-General, that some states and territories have made efforts to reform their law. However, the Council commented that, even when such reform was carried through, it only exacerbated the problems faced by the press, by increasing the differences in legal regimes.

The Press Council not only urged the Attorneys to place the issue of uniformity back on their agenda but it also suggested a new approach to the consideration of defamation law reform. Instead of leaving it to a state or territory to take the running and produce a draft for others to consider (and, in the past, reject), the Council said that there should be a consultation process with affected parties before drafting commences. Responses should be sought from publishers and broadcasters about the content of defamation law. While this was likely to lead to suggestions for changes, the real priority of the media would be to attain uniformity.

A full text of the submission to the Attorneys was published as an enclosure with this issue. It is also available on the Council's website.

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Publications

The transcript of the Council's 1998 Public Forum in Melbourne, on the Reporting of Gambling Issues has now been printed and is available from the office at a cost of $4, including postage within Australia. A version of the booklet, in pdf format, is available on the Council's website.

The 1997-98 Annual Report has been published and is available on request from the Press Council office.

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Mediated Complaints

The Council encourages the informal resolution of complaints, including the use of direct mediation between the parties. Among the complaints successfully mediated of recent times are:

• An historical article was published in a suburban weekly newspaper. The article was based largely on the research of the complainant, who was not accorded credit for her work. There was also a number of errors in the article. The editor published a correction of the errors, and credited the complainant and her co-authors for their historical research.
  
  
• A Sunday metropolitan newspaper staged a photograph to accompany a story on public servants who had misbehaved. The paper published an apology and a follow-up story. The complainant was satisfied with the actions of the paper.
  
  
• An article in a daily metropolitan newspaper inaccurately linked childcare payments with the vaccination status of children. The paper published a letter from the complainant clarifying the matter.
  
  
• A complainant believed an article in a daily metropolitan newspaper on psychic powers could cause fear and superstition in its readers. The complainant's letter was published.
  
  
• A statement published in a suburban newspaper by a racecourse commercial manager was unfounded. The editor's formal response was sent to the complainant, and a follow-up article published. Complainant satisfied.

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World Association of Press Councils

A three day conference of the WAPC, including meetings of the association's Executive Council and General Assembly, was held in Istanbul in September. The Council's Chairman, Professor Dennis Pearce, and its Executive Secretary, Jack Herman, attended the conference. The first two days involved four major sessions on privacy, an International Code of Ethics, a Transnational Complaints Mechanism and war reporting. There were a large number of local attendees from the Turkish press and the bulk of the international attendees were journalists and editors, rather than Press Council representatives.

The final day was devoted to WAPC activities and Professor Pearce reports on the outcomes of those discussion in an article in this issue. A version of the speech he gave at the privacy discussion in Istanbul is also published.

The Australian Press Council continues to act as Convenor Press Council of the WAPC and is hosting, on its website, a section devoted to WAPC activities. [This section was removed in June 2000, following the APC's withdrawal from the WAPC.]

The Australian and New Zealand Press Councils are hosting the first Oceania Conference of the WAPC in Brisbane on 22 and 23 June 1999. It is to that conference that the WAPC working parties discussed by Professor Pearce will report.

The major themes of the Brisbane conference will include the role of the media in reporting communical conflicts and the way in which the press should deal with courts and the criminal justice system.

More details on the conference will be available from the Press Council office in December, or through the Press Council's website.

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On the Council

The Australian Suburban Newspapers Association has reaffiliated with the Council. The former ASNA representative, Alec Mathieson, General Manager and Director of Messenger Newspapers, Adelaide, is again ASNA's full member of the Council. His alternate is Graham Harris, President of ASNA and Managing Editor of Courier Newspapers in Sydney. Another new alternate is Rex Jory, the Deputy Editor of the Advertiser, Adelaide, who will now act for Chris McLeod as representative of the Herald and Weekly Times when Chris is unavailable. (The Advertiser has long been represented on the Council by HWT.)

The Council has also appointed two new journalist members, to replace the retired Margaret Jones and Evan Whitton. The new full member is Sandra Symons, of Sydney. Sandra is a freelance journalist and editorial consultant, who has recently conceived and edited two highly successful contract magazines, Living Well and Jewel. She has edited other magazines for organisations as diverse as the Australian Museum, Australia Council, News Limited, the Australian Wool Corporation and Hyatt Hotels. She is also a lecturer in Social Communication and Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney, and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, UTS, and presents a weekly morning program on 2RES.

The new alternate journalist member is Sybil Nolan who is a freelance journalist and journalism teacher who has worked in senior editing and writing roles on The Age newspaper, and as a reporter for The Australian. In 1995, she won the best editing category of The Age's awards for staff excellence. Since leaving that paper in 1996, her positions have included founding editor of The Republican weekly, and part-time lecturer in journalism at RMIT.

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Letters to the Editor

The Council has received a couple of responses to Paul Murray's comments in the last issue on the publication of details of court cases in newspapers. Those responses will be held over to the next issue of the News.

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Correction - Annual Report 22

In the recently published annual report, Adjudication No. 951 omits a line at the end of page 77. The correct version was published in The News, Vol. 10, No. 1, February 1998, and is available on the AustLII website.

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