Adjudication No. 100 (June 1981) [1981] APC 10

ADJUDICATION No. 100 (June 1981)

The Australian Press Council has received a complaint from a number of persons against The Age of 2 April 1981., in respect of a review of a television feature entitled "Everything you always wanted to know about sex and were afraid to ask" and an accompanying illustration and caption.

The review of the television feature is complained of on the ground that intimate sexual details are made the subject of jocular comment and paraded before the reader as a source of hilarious entertainment. The illustration and caption are complained of as representing a lapse of decency indefensible in a paper circulating in families of varied age groups.

The paper maintains that the review is responsible and restrained and that the complainants' charges are unjustified. It responded to the complaint by saying that it recognised that the film could be offensive to some sections of the community but that does not mean a responsible newspaper should not review it.

The council accepts the view of the paper and dismisses the complaint.