Adjudication No. 842 (February 1996) [1996] APC 16

ADJUDICATION No. 842 (February 1996)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Peter Webber against the Gold Coast Bulletin over a 3 January 1996 front page picture.

This shows police standing on a riverbank above what the accompanying story says is part of a torso and bound arms of a partly clothed body.

The picture is normal newspaper coverage. Mr Webber's claims about it, which include allegations that it will cause severe trauma and "flashbacks", interfere with parenting and "normalise" murder/horror, are extravagant.

In pressing his complaint about the picture, Mr Webber also raised concerns with a front page picture published on 22 January which shows a singer "undressing" at a rock festival. While the picture might offend some readers, its publication does not breach Press Council principles.

In each case, the newspaper published letters in which readers took issue with the pictures published.