Adjudication No. 467 (January 1991) [1991] APC 2

ADJUDICATION NO. 467 (January 1991)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Mr Brendan Donnelly against an article in the Sydney Morning Herald of 13 October 1990, entitled "How greenhouse targets will change your life".

The article appeared the day after the Federal Government's decision that Australia should aim for a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2005. It was one of several items, including an editorial, in this and subsequent editions of the paper, which dealt with various implications of the decision.

Mr Donnelly specifically disapproved of two out of 19 points in a panel incorporated in the article, headed "WAYS TO CUT GAS EMISSIONS", namely: reduce burning in forestry and agricultural sectors; halt vegetation clearing and logging old growth forests.

Mr Donnelly wrote a letter to the Herald, describing these suggestions as "fatuous", and stating that they would contribute relatively little to a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

The letter was not published, which prompted Mr Donnelly to complain that the paper was open to a charge of partisan bias in the way it was covering the environmental debate in relation to production forestry.

In its defence, the Herald observed that the two contentious points were in a panel placed in an article which did not otherwise refer to them at all. The panel, according to the paper, "did not imply that these were the only ways carbon dioxide emissions might be reduced, simply that these were some ways by which emissions might be cut".

The Press Council does not agree with Mr Donnelly that the Herald was presenting untruthful or misleading material in its article. All 19 points in the panel were scientifically accurate - that is, the proposed measures would contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gases, although the extent and significance of that contribution relative to other options were clearly open to debate.

Nor does the Council accept Mr Donnelly's broader charge of bias in the Herald's coverage of environmental issues in relation to forestry. The 13 October edition carried an editorial and another article which emphasised the need to balance economic demands and environmental considerations in the management of Australian resources and, from evidence produced by the paper, this theme continued in editions which appeared the following week.

The forestry industry has been a vigorous advocate on the economic side of this debate, and the Council believes that its interests received fair treatment by the Herald in this broader context.

Nevertheless, the Council is concerned that very little opportunity appears to have been given in the Herald's letters column for readers (including Mr Donnelly) to comment on this article.

The selection of letters is, of course, a matter for editorial discretion - an arduous task for the Sydney Morning Herald, which reports that it copes with more than 100 letters seeking publication each day. However, Mr Donnelly's correspondence, while impassioned, appeared well-informed and (even if it required editing) could have made a constructive contribution to the public's understanding of greenhouse gas issues.