Adjudication No. 440 (June 1990) [1990] APC 12

ADJUDICATION No. 440 (June 1990)

The Press Council did not uphold a complaint concerning an interview in the Daily Telegraph about the effect on families of the Opposition's financial proposals prior to the last election.

Mr and Mrs S. Griffiths complain about an interview with them reported in the Daily Telegraph on 13 October 1989 concerning the impact on a typical family of Andrew Peacock's 1 billion dollar plan to "put families first". The article showed a picture of the Griffiths with their two sons and described their alleged reaction to Mr Peacock's proposals.

They claim the published interview was a total fabrication and the publication of the complainants address and weekly wages caused them not only embarrassment but also harassment.

However, the newspaper supplied copies of shorthand and transcribed notes to support the article.

On the afternoon of the publication of the article, the Griffiths received a threatening telephone call. The Press Council sympathises with the Griffiths' distress and believes that the newspaper need not have identified the street in which they lived as it added nothing to the story. On the evidence before it, however, the Council does not believe that the newspaper acted irresponsibly.