Adjudication No. 1312 (adjudicated March 2006) [2006] APC 6

Adjudication No. 1312 (adjudciated March 2006)

The Australian Press Council has upheld in part a complaint from police Superintendent Clint Pheeney over an article in The Lachlander, a NSW country newspaper, on 20 January 2006 concerning police staff numbers at the Condobolin police station.

The article was published after an earlier article (13 January) on the same subject and before an editorial (27 January) that was highly critical of the complainant.

The newspaper reported concerns that police staffing numbers in the area were below those allocated. In doing so, and in highlighting a recent incident in the town, the newspaper reported on a number of issues that were affecting police staffing numbers and operational efficiency. Those issues included extended leave absences and disciplinary action pertaining to two police officers.

The complainant, while acknowledging that his views were properly reported in the article on 13 January, argues that the 20 January article contained significant inaccuracies and was unbalanced in that his views were not further expressed. He asserts that some matters should not have been reported as they relate to personal and confidential issues relating to some police officers, particularly in the context of a small rural community. He also says the article blurred fact and opinion, especially in an accusation, as he saw it, that the complainant had been untruthful.

The newspaper stands by the content of the article. It believes it has "caught short" the complainant and that it published information, particularly about the disciplinary matter, in the public interest. It asserts that, in a town the size of Condobolin, "most" of the information published was "fairly common knowledge".

The complainant submitted a letter to the editor immediately after the publication of the article on 20 January. The newspaper did not publish that letter. On 27 January, the newspaper published an editorial which was highly critical of the complainant. The editorial called for the complainant to be replaced in his senior police role in the area.

The Council recognises that the issue of police numbers, and their deployment in communities, is an issue of significant public interest and one which newspapers are entitled to pursue with vigour.

The Council is, however, of the view in this case that the newspaper should have allowed the complainant's views to be included in the article, or failing that, the newspaper should have given the complainant the opportunity to provide balancing comment by publication of the letter submitted, especially when viewed against the fact that the newspaper subsequently called for his removal from his position. To the extent, that it did not provide such balance, the complaint is upheld.