Adjudication No. 353 (February 1989) [1989] APC 5

ADJUDICATION No. 353 (February 1989)

Mr J R Blake complains to the Australian Press Council concerning an article entitled "Pint sized criminal who loved to terrorise victims", which appeared in the Courier-Mail on 31 July 1987. The story related to the life of Paul James Mullen who died in a shoot-out with police during the previous week.

The article began:

Paul James Mullen died as he lived - by the law of the gun.

When Queensland Police ended his life this week in a hail of bullets, they did what dozens of detectives had itched to do for the past nine years. Police across Australia regarded him - not Russel "Mad Dog" cox - as Australia's public enemy number one.

Mr Blake argues that the statement that 'Queensland Police had done what dozens of detectives had itched to do for the past nine years' was a most unobjective opinion with very little substance, put out in a very emotive manner, which did little to either build the image of police who have a most difficult job to do, or little to build an understanding of the forces in society which cause such a person to move so far down the path of antisocial behaviour.

In reply, the editor indicates that the article was written under the name of a senior police roundsman with an acknowledged reputation in that area of journalism. The journalist states that many angry local senior police expressed regrets to him that they had not had the opportunity to catch up with Mullen. They made it clear that they had been waiting nine years for an opportunity to come face to face with him.

Mr Blake points out that this is very different from the implication that 'police had itched to end Mullen's life in a hail of bullets' He points out that the journalist goes on to say that the police officers who expressed their wish to him were not necessarily going to carry out their threat.

On an objective reading of the article, the Council tends to the view that the words used were in the nature of hyperbole and, as such, were not meant to be taken literally. In a bylined article, journalists are normally granted considerable freedom in expressing their views. At the same time, the matters which Mr Blake raises are matters of very legitimate concern to readers of newspapers. In a society such as ours, rather that reining in and limiting, the freedom of columnists to express their views should normally be balanced by the publication of any contrary views. This is best achieved in the columns of the newspaper concerned, e.g., in the letters to the editor column.