Adjudication No. 18 (August 1977) [1977] APC 13

ADJUDICATION No. 18 (August 1977)

Dr. D.S.A. Gunaratne, of Rockhampton, complains of an article and some letters published in the Brisbane Sunday Mail. His complaint is that the article and the predominantly one-sided tendency of the letters present white racist propaganda, playing up one side of the Rhodesian issue without sufficient presentation of the opposite point of view.

The article is a feature column headed "Simon Says" with a drawing of a man on a soap box and it is signed "Ces Simon". It is an emotionally-expressed argument against the current attitude of opposition to minority rule in Rhodesia and argues that the attitude it condemns rests upon double standards of judgment since it is not applied consistently where minorities have had the support of large and powerful nations.

Six letters to the editor are in question, five being in support of the views expressed in the article and one against it. The paper has said that it has not received more than the one in opposition to the article and that it has received six for publication and others not for publication in support of it.

It does not appear that Dr. Gunaratne or anyone else has been denied the opportunity to present a view contrary to the columnist's opinion.

The charge of white racism cannot be sustained and the Council has no reason to doubt the correctness of the editor's statement about the tenor of the letters it has received. What must be considered is that the paper in the article in question has allowed a free hand to a columnist to express his views against the attitude of opposition to minority rule in Rhodesia.

A newspaper is well within its rights in adopting or allowing its columnists to adopt any attitude they wish to express on a matter of public controversy so long as the fact clearly appears that what is being expressed is an opinion and news is not distorted or suppressed in order to favour the opinion that is adopted.

The Press Council is of the opinion that the Sunday Mail has not acted in breach of proper standards of journalism and has done no more than exercise the rights which must be conceded to a free Press by those who disagree with it as by those who agree.

The complaint is dismissed.