Adjudication No. 1138 (October 2001) [2001] APC 39

Adjudication No. 1138 (October 2001)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Peter Jones regarding alteration of a letter he wrote to The Gympie Times, Queensland.

Mr Jones said he could see no reason why the newspaper should have edited his letter at all, and that alterations in one paragraph in particular distorted its meaning.

However, the Press Council found that the letter as published by the newspaper on 23 June this year was substantially faithful to Mr Jones's original, and the changes were minor cosmetic ones.

Throughout his letter, Mr Jones had addressed the editor personally ("you"). In the published version, the newspaper substituted his title ("the Editor"). Mr Jones' final paragraph ("If you want more [government 'largesse'] then you should come up with the money ...") was also modified, to read "If people want ...". The Council considered this paragraph was ambiguously phrased in the original, and the newspaper's changes did not alter the thrust of Mr Jones' argument.