Adjudication No. 1306 (adjudicated December 2005) [2005] APC 39

Adjudication No. 1306 (adjudciated December 2005)

The Press Council has upheld a complaint brought by Faten El-Dana, on behalf of the Muslim Women's Welfare of Australia, against the Egypt News, a Coptic community newspaper, published in Arabic.

Ms El-Dana complained about an article published in the newspaper on 18 January 2005 under the heading Slaughtering of a Coptic family the Islamic way in New Jersey in the United States.

The article claimed that a Coptic family had been murdered by Muslims and added "it is believed that there are dormant Islamic gangs in this city which is highly populated by Muslims".

Ms El-Dana complained the article was unsourced and that its intention was to "slander the Muslims".

On 6 March, Ms El-Dana forwarded to Egypt News a copy of an article from the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram which stated that there was no Muslim connection in the murders, and that the New Jersey police had arrested two American men Edward McDonald and Hamilton Sanshez for the crime. Ms El-Dana supplied the Council with a further two reports from American news sources supporting the Al-Ahram story.

Ms El-Dana asked the newspaper to correct its 18 January article but it did not comply and wrote her a response which she found deeply offensive.

The newspaper's editor Samir Habashi informally advised the Council that he was awaiting finalisation of the investigation before publishing any clarification, but made no other response.

The Council finds that the newspaper erred in not sourcing its original article and in not moving quickly to correct the original material when the new facts emerged. Accordingly Ms El-Dana's complaint is upheld.

Australia is a multicultural society with a thriving ethnic community language press. Debate in those newspapers is often robust and controversial.

The Council encourages that debate but would remind publications that they should be guided by the principles of the Council concerning the separation of fact from comment. It is the responsibility of newspapers properly to source news stories and to take every effort to ensure that what they publish is accurate. In addition, it is incumbent on newspapers quickly to correct any errors that have occurred as soon as they become aware of the problem.