Adjudication No. 328 (March 1987) [1987] APC 15

ADJUDICATION No. 328 (March 1987)

Mr R Brown complains to the Press Council about two articles in The Advertiser, Adelaide, by Bruce Dover concerning Kevin Barlow and Geoffrey Chambers, two Australians executed in Malaysia in 1986. When the articles appeared on 23 June 1986 under the heading "Barlow, 'ready to die"' and "The heroin deal which led to the hangman", Mr Brown complained about the insensitivity, biased reporting, and above all the blatant attempt to incite racial prejudice and over-sensationalise the matter.

He contrasted the description of the arresting officer as a "fat-bellied Malaysian ... gloating over his bust" with his description of Chambers" .-. a good-looking well mannered man". Mr Brown then observes that it took the writer many hundreds of words before noting that susceptibility to bribery could not be added to the arresting officer's shortcomings of physique and mannerisms.

The Advertiser claimed that no reading of the article could in any way substantiate an impression of racial prejudice. It claimed that its description of the arresting officer was colourful; the words came from the two young Australians under extreme pressure describing to an impartial journalist how they felt. In reporting the fact that the officer could not be bribed, the newspaper showed no biased approach.

Subsequently Mr Brown ascertained that, in reprinting the article, the Sydney Morning Herald removed the personal description of the arresting officer. In addition, from-an article in the Bulletin, Mr Brown ascertained that The Advertiser had paid for the fares to Malaysia and accommodation there of some of Barlow's relatives and this would constitute an incentive to the journalist to use his position to please his employer with as much sensational and colourful material as possible. Mr Brown then also argued that the article left little room for doubt about the defendant's guilt before a plea for clemency was to go before the Parole Board.

Subsequently, Mr Brown complained about the implication of Mr Dover's article, headed "They met by chance at an airport - they'll die together on the gallows", in the Melbourne Herald of 23 June 1986. His complaint is along similar lines to that in relation to The Advertiser, and he makes the additional point that there was a deletion of the reference to the arresting officer's refusal to be bribed.

In reply, the editor of The Herald argues that the story was intended to be descriptive and vivid. Reference to the refusal to take a bribe was deleted from the first edition for reasons of space, but it reappeared in subsequent editions. The Herald denies the article was intended to carry racial overtones.

The Press Council does not believe that the matters raised by Mr Brown would justify the Council censuring the newspapers concerned. The journalist obviously used the language of the two condemned men in attempting to describe a situation of great public interest. The Council cannot conclude that the articles had a racist overtone.

The fact that The Advertiser had or had not borne some of the costs incurred by Kevin Barlow's relatives does not appear to be relevant to this complaint.

With regard to the implication in the article that the men were guilty, it should be pointed out that the Malaysian legal system had already come to this conclusion. What was being sought was an act of clemency after all forms of appeal had apparently been exhausted. Therefore in referring to their guilt no impropriety was committed by the newspapers.

Further, the Press Council does not believe that the overall handling of this matter by the newspapers concerned breached any of the Council's principles. The complaints are therefore dismissed.