Adjudication No. 1037 (June 1999) [1999] APC 31

ADJUDICATION No. 1037 (June 1999)

The Press Council dismisses the complaint of John Arnold against The Australian Magazine for allegedly using an "altered" photograph in an article on the late Geoffrey Dutton titled "The Long Goodbye".

The article, published in the 12-13 December 1998 edition, concerned Mr Dutton's collaboration with artist John Olsen on a final epic poem "New York Nowhere" and explored his private life in the last months of his life.

The Australian Magazine stated that it obtained the images from The Lytlewode Press, publishers of the poem. It denied Mr Arnold's complaint, which was supported by a Senior Lecturer in Arts Photography. The Lytlewode Press also rejected the allegation and produced prints from the photographic negatives together with dates and details of other photographs taken during the same period.

On that basis, the Council can find no evidence that the newspaper breached the principles.