Adjudication No. 1088 (July 2000) [2000] APC 23

ADJUDICATION No. 1088 (July 2000)

The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint by the editor of the Mordialloc Chelsea News against a competitor, the Chelsea Independent, a Melbourne suburban newspaper.

Newspapers do themselves no favours when they engage in attacks on each other and ignore the basic principles of journalism - particularly balance and fairness - no matter how important competition is to the marketplace.

In this case, the editor of the News complained about a 20 March 2000 report in the Independent which criticised the News' coverage a week earlier of revelations that the State Emergency Services at Chelsea was operating vehicles that had not been registered.

The Independent in detailing criticisms of the News from unnamed members of the Chelsea SES reported that a person claiming to be a news editor with the News had admitted to a SES officer that the source for the original story did not in fact exist.

Further, the Independent reported that the Chelsea SES had not received satisfaction from the News when attempting to have corrections made.

The claims were not put to the News by the Independent before publication and have been strenuously denied by the editor of the News in her complaint.

The Independent in its defence said the article complained of was "instigated entirely by the Chelsea SES which felt it had been incredibly badly maligned". This may be so but is not a justification for the newspaper to publish allegations without checking them and seeking a response. It thus breaches the Press Council's principles.

The Press Council believes that the Independent has taken sides in an issue of public interest at the expense of proper journalistic practice.