Adjudication No. 986 (August 1998) [1998] APC 32

ADJUDICATION No. 986 (August 1998)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint from Kathleen Hazelwood against The Advertiser, Adelaide, that it published harmfully inaccurate information and did not publish a balancing response.

Ms Hazelwood claims that the by-lined report of a meeting in Berri at which the SA Premier, John Olsen, spoke in support of his government's proposed sale of the Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) is inaccurate because it attempts to ascribe the political mood in Berri as assessed by the paper's Political Editor to country South Australia as a whole.

Ms Hazelwood took particular exception to the opening paragraph: "The proposed sale of ETSA does not appear to be a major political issue in the country with only a handful of people at the launching of the State Government Rural campaign on the issue."

Ms Hazelwood detailed her views in a letter to the editor of The Advertiser. The letter was not published and a comprehensive response to, and rejection of, Ms Hazelwood's assertions of bias and a defence of the professionalism of the journalist in question was provided to the complainant by The Advertiser.

The Press Council finds that the story is balanced, drawing on a range of available sources and opinions. The available evidence thus presented leads the writer to a perception that country people, as represented by the community of Berri and the Riverland generally, did not appear to regard the proposed sale of ETSA as a major political issue.

It may well be that a body of opinion as expressed by Ms Hazelwood does exist in country communities but the reporter did not come across it. The article provides a reasonable assessment of what the reporter learned.