Adjudication No. 493 (May 1991) [1991] APC 28

ADJUDICATION No. 493 (May 1991)

The Warrnambool Standard AJA House Committee complains concerning material which appeared in The Gazette, another local newspaper. In particular, it complains about a headline -- Building Societies are as Safe as Houses -which appeared as what is generally considered advertorial.

It complains also about other similar material.

Briefly, advertorials are editorial material which accompany advertisements and are intended to complement the advertising.

The essence of The Gazette's reply is that the material was obviously advertorial; it was not intended to be news, and would not be read as such.

The editor said that he himself would have preferred quotation marks around the headline but, because of minimal staff and other pressures, material often reached production stage before he saw it.

The essential question is whether advertising features and any advertising which might be read as editorial matter should be clearly identified. The Australian Press Council believes it should.

The complaint is upheld.