Adjudication No. 346 (October 1987) [1987] APC 33

ADJUDICATION No. 346 (October 1987)

Councillor A. Black complains of two articles in the May 24 editions of the Midland-Mundaring Echo and the Kalamunda Echo. The two articles bylined to a single author, the editor of the Mundaring Echo, reported aspects of a Mundaring Shire Council meeting at which Councillor Black played a significant role. "Faction war puts shire behind clock" is an account of the two-night council meeting, covering various issues. "Black's move brings red eyes" deals with one particular issue which was the subject of repeated debate during the two nights.

Specifically, Councillor Black states that the articles were "partly inaccurate, partly not sourced and contained an attack on (him) without asking for (his) point of view". Councillor Black wrote a lengthy letter in reply in support of these concerns, sending copies to two rival newspapers in the area which, he presumably felt, would have an interest in the matter.

The Mundaring Echo's editor did not publish Councillor Black's spirited letter either in full or in part but, in the following week's issue of his paper, printed an equally spirited reply, quoting selectively from the letter to rebut the arguments submitted by Councillor Black in his own defence. The editor justified his non-publication of the letter on the grounds that Councillor Black had sent copies to rival newspapers which could seize the opportunity to blacken (the editor's) name - certainly a tactic which was not conducive to publication by the editor of The Echo.

The Press Council considers that the two reports of the Shire Council meeting, although flawed, fell within acceptable standards of journalism, given the constraints of space, time and reader tolerance faced by suburban newspapers.

The Press Council believes in this particular case that the direct and indirect criticisms of Councillor Black in the two articles in question gave him a right to present his point of view to The Echo's readers - if not in its original text, at least in a form that could have been negotiated between the interested parties.