Adjudication No. 1193 (May 2003) [2003] APC 9

Adjudication No. 1193 (May 2003)

The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint by Valerie, Edward and Kerri Sansbury against The Advertiser, Adelaide, about the reporting of a Coroner's inquest into the death of a man shot by police.

The report (Constable who shot knifeman cleared) provided a brief summary of the Coroner's findings, and of the events leading up to the shooting. These events had included an acrimonious altercation between the man and members of his family, during which he made some derogatory remarks about his teenage daughter.

The Advertiser published these remarks. This resulted in the daughter being readily identified in the local and Aboriginal communities and, from medical evidence presented to the Council, caused her and her family seriously stressful after-effects.

The Sansburys complained that the paper breached the Press Council Principles in its report of the inquest by failing to present the findings honestly and fairly, and with respect for the privacy and sensibilities of the family involved.

The Advertiser's response to the Sansburys acknowledged their distress. The paper argued, however, that the journalist was simply doing her job in reporting on a matter of significant public interest. It pointed out that the article had accurately quoted evidence that had been presented in the Coroner's court, and been incorporated in his report. It said that the article's reference to the family argument was intended to illustrate the man's agitated state of mind during the hours before his death.

The Press Council acknowledges that The Advertiser's report was technically accurate in this regard. However, publishing the insult against the man's daughter was not essential to readers' understanding of the Coroner's findings, and, as a result, it was not a fair and balanced report. The Coroner had canvassed the dead man's known history of drug taking, violence, imprisonment and mental health problems. The article referred to none of these, although all of them could have been cited, without identifying the man's daughter, to explain his mental state.

The Press Council has generally supported the right of newspapers to report open court hearings, including inquests. In this instance, however, the Council does not believe there was an overriding public interest to justify breaching a minor's privacy and sensibilities.