Adjudication No. 1141 (October 2001) [2001] APC 42

Adjudication No. 1141 (October 2001)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint brought by Mandy Kirsopp against the Wimmera Mail-Times in relation to two articles which focussed on events surrounding the Horsham Amateur Basketball Association and the editing of a letter written by the complainant to clarify one of the articles.

The first article (Ex-official banned in basketball blue) dealt with events which occurred at an annual general meeting of the basketball association. A later second article (Parents demand answers to row) reported further on the matter. It was the contention of the complainant that the articles exhibited a bias towards the basketball association and that this was further displayed by the editing of a letter written by the complainant and published by the newspaper.

The newspaper did acknowledge a factual error in its description of what occurred at the annual general meeting in its first article. The first article said that the association president 'froze all association positions until the restructure was completed and declared the annual meeting closed.' It should have said that the president suspended all positions and continued with the meeting. This error was corrected in the second article.

The complainant's main grievance was directed more at the emphasis of the stories reported in the newspaper. However, the Press Council is of the view that the reporting has been fair and balanced.

The newspaper also published a letter written by the complainant who complained that the omission of two words 'and then' from her letter changed the tenor of her message and undermined its impact. However, the Press Council does not agree with her assertion that the removal of the words had the effect asserted by the complainant.