Adjudication No. 1275 (adjudicated March 2005) [2005] APC 8

Adjudication No. 1275 (adjudciated March 2005)

The Press Council has upheld in part a complaint from Laurie Vella arising from an article Madison's the true Karate Kid (The Blacktown Advocate, 8 December 2004) and a subsequent clarification to this story (The Blacktown Advocate, 2 February 2005).

The article referred to "Richard and Wayne Holdstock", instructors at the Goju Ryu Bushido Karate Academy (Madison's instructors), as a father-son combination. Wayne's surname is actually Vella, and the complainant is his father.

The complainant states that as a proud father he was "horrified" by reference in the article.

The Blacktown Advocate accepted that there was an error in the article and printed a clarification to inform readers that Wayne's family name is Vella. The complainant feels the clarification does not go far enough to explain that Wayne and Richard are not father and son, and that Laurie Vella is Wayne's father. While the initial surname inaccuracy was corrected, the newspaper could easily, and should have, dealt with the father's other concern. It is regrettable that the newspaper did not make the additional effort to meet the complainant's reasonable concerns. And to the extent that it did not, the complaint is upheld.