Adjudication No. 709 (March 1994) [1994] APC 18

ADJUDICATION No. 709 (March 1994)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint against an opinion poll on sexual harassment published in The Age newspaper on 15 November 1993.

Mr Alan Salter complained that the Saulwick Age poll promoted the feminist cause against men.

The Press Council notes that the report on the poll fulfilled its guidelines on opinion polls.

Further, the day following the poll, an Age editorial warned that much of the behaviour that some feminists considered sexual harassment was not that at all and the poll showed that most people did not think that it was.

Mr Salter followed up his initial complaint with a more generalised complaint about an anti-male bias in The Age, citing a number of what he saw as examples. The Age argued that these represented no more than the expression of different views, which fulfilled the proper function of a newspaper.

On the evidence before it, the Press Council also found against this extension of the complaint.