Adjudication No. 1232 (March 2004) [2004] APC 7

Adjudication No. 1232 (March 2004)

A story resulting from a phone-in poll conducted by The West Australian is the subject of a complaint by Mark Tomkinson to the Australian Press Council.

The story, published on 29 November, said that a 'phone poll' showed that "two-thirds of the WA community want the State MPs to continue to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen". The percentage was based on the results of the phone poll, in which 456 people wanted to keep the oath and 228 wanted it removed.

Mr Tomkinson argues that phone-in polls are inaccurate, and can be easily manipulated. Therefore using the figures to say that two-thirds of the WA population support the oath of allegiance is misleading.

Mr Tomkinson sent a long letter of complaint to the editor of The West Australian at the same time as he complained to the Press Council, but it was not published.

The West Australian says that in going to the Press Council at the same time as writing his letter, Mr Tomkinson effectively pre-empted its response. It said the phone-poll report was transparent to readers who were given the information they needed to make their judgment - as Mr Tomkinson had done. It offered to consider a revised letter for publication. Mr Tomkinson rejected the offer.

It is unfortunate that, rather than taking the opportunity provided by the newspaper to redress the situation, Mr Tomkinson chose to take the matter to the Press Council. The Press Council has consistently said that the best response to concerns such as his is the publication of a contrary view by the newspaper.

In its General Press Release No. 246, the Press Council provides guidelines on reporting public opinion polls. They are aimed at ensuring the public can judge properly the value of the poll being reported. The guidelines point out that, when reporting ring-in or internet polls, newspapers should make clear the results were generated by self-selected respondents - not by proper statistical sampling - and they are not necessarily representative of the whole population.

The West Australian did not do this. To this extent the complaint is upheld.