Adjudication No. 707 (March 1994) [1994] APC 16

ADJUDICATION No. 707 (March 1994)

The Press Council has upheld a complaint by Mr Peter Styles against a paragraph in the business section of the Herald Sun on 16 November 1993 headed "FRIENDLY FIGURES".

The paragraph, one of several brief comments on business affairs in "NEWSLINE", concerned the IOOF Friendly Society's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 June 1993 and referred to growth in the society's income.

Mr Styles' complaint was that other figures in IOOF's accounts showed a decline in the management surplus and in the assets owned by IOOF (although not in the total assets managed by the group). Mr Styles compared the Herald Sun summary unfavourably with a more detailed report published in the Australian Financial Review on the same day. He wrote to the Herald Sun and also voiced his complaint to the business editor.

The newspaper claimed the figures used in its summary were accurate (one was not but the premium income mistake did not alter the purport of the summary) and that any difference between the two newspaper summaries was a difference in interpreting relevant figures.

The Press Council accepts that, apart from a transposition, the sales figures quoted by the Herald-Sun were accurate.

The Council notes the brevity of "Newsline" reports and accepts there was no deliberate attempt to mislead readers. Nevertheless by not publishing the less friendly figures the newspaper failed to provide a balanced summary of the IOOF accounts.

Mr Styles' complaint is therefore upheld.