Adjudication No. 941 (September 1997) [1997] APC 42

ADJUDICATION No. 941 (September 1997)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint brought against The Age, Melbourne, by the Polish Anti-Defamation League over publication of a letter to the editor headed: "For whom the bells don't toll".

In the letter, the writer condemns claims in the book titled Pauline Hanson. The Truth that the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians killed and ate their children.

The letter says that "... for centuries, many Poles were taught that Jews drank the blood of Polish children on Passover. During World War II, these people vented their anger on innocent Jewish people".

The letter says that, in a similar way, Germans were incited against the Jews, gypsies and homosexuals.

The Polish Anti-Defamation League complains on the grounds that the claims about the Poles are false; that The Age did not take reasonable steps to correct them; and that the letter failed to respect the sensibilities of individuals.

The Age says that the League's reply to the published letter was too long and that it believed it had no obligation to publish it.

While there is no breach of its principles, the Press Council believes that this is a case where The Age could have negotiated a suitable letter from the League.