Adjudication No. 487 (March 1991) [1991] APC 22

ADJUDICATION NO. 487 (March 1991)

The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint by the Hon. Justin O'Byrne over a headline in The Sun-Herald newspaper.

He complained that the headline "Murphy named as KGB Spy" in the 11 November 1990 issue of The Sun Herald was not substantiated by the body of the story which related to a book alleging some intelligence sources suspected the late Mr Justice Murphy may have been an "agent of influence" for the KGB.

The newspaper did not defend the headline. It defended the article on the grounds that the allegations contained in the book published that day were of legitimate public interest.

It pointed out the body of the article contained refutations from several public figures and photographs of three of them. In all, 25 of the 37 paragraphs were devoted to vigorous refutation of the allegations contained in the book.

But none of the words in the article justified the headline. The fact is that Mr Justice Murphy was not named as a KGB spy. This mistake should have been corrected.

In upholding the complaint about the headline, the Press Council emphasised there is no aspect of the layout of newspapers more important than headlines in giving a fair and balanced summary to readers of matters of public interest.

Headlines must not only be used, legitimately, to entice interest but must strive to be as accurate and balanced as the stories they top.