Adjudication No. 1209 (July 2003) [2003] APC 25

Adjudication No. 1209 (July 2003)

The Press Council has considered a complaint about the editing of a letter in The Sunday Age.

The letter was the result of a mediation by the Press Council between the complainant and the paper. The complainant, Marek Swida, had earlier protested at what he saw as an anti-Polish sentiment in the newspaper generally and in a story that dealt in part with the escape of a Jewish girl from the Warsaw ghetto during World War Two.

Mr Swida was informed that the paper would consider publishing "a reasonable letter", and he was told that criticism of the paper would be accepted but it "must be reasonable and logical and bear on the circumstances of the story".

The Sunday Age then published a version of the letter submitted by Mr Swida without further consultations. The letter, as published, was considerably shortened, with the part played by Poles in saving the girl remaining. The newspaper did not regard Mr Swida's wider criticisms as "reasonable" and omitted them from the published letter.

In the light of the tone of Mr Swida's letter, the Council appreciates the newspaper's reluctance to publish the letter as submitted. It is regrettable that a publishable version of that criticism did not materialise.