Adjudication No. 913 (April 1997) [1997] APC 14

ADJUDICATION No. 913 (April 1997)

The Press Council has dismissed the complaints of Trevor Otton and Gaynor Hicks about an article which appeared in The Manly Daily on 23 January 1997. This was a report of a court hearing of charges of drug taking and sexual assault involving a couple and a 13 year old girl. The complainants claim that the report breached the principles concerned with taste, with placing gratuitous emphasis on sexual orientation and of failing to respect individuals' sensibilities.

Although the article is defended by the paper's editor as "a fair and accurate" account of the court proceedings, 15 of a total of 19 paragraphs were devoted to detailed graphic descriptions of the drug taking and sexual activities. The complainants considered that this emphasis was unnecessary and gratuitous.

The paper defended its account claiming that it had exercised taste, and that they could have included much more material. With some reservations, the complainants' point that the material is unsuitable and in bad taste for readers because it is a free home delivered paper is dismissed. The newspaper could have been more circumspect in its coverage but, in this case, its coverage was not "so repugnant as to be extremely offensive to its readership".