Adjudication No. 1377 (adjudicated December 2007) [2007] APC 34

Adjudication No. 1377 (adjudicated December 2007)

The Australian Press Council has upheld in part a complaint against The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, over its coverage of a convicted child murderer and his living in the same street as a primary school. The paper reported on the discovery of the man living in a street that contains a school, his record of convictions and the reaction of some parents upon discovering that he lived in the street.

The complainants argued that the report contained errors of fact, information had not been obtained in an honest or fair manner, that the individual's privacy had not been respected, facts have been misrepresented and the headline (Predator in their midst) did not accurately represent the facts.

The paper argued that they 'have consistently adopted a hard-line stance in respect' of its reporting in relation to this man 'since the time of his release from prison in 1999'. It believes that the fact he is on 'life-time' parole and has to wear an electronic bracelet at all times makes his whereabouts a matter of legitimate public interest.

The Press Council agrees that the issue of the placement of the man near a school is a matter of obvious public interest and the paper was justified in covering it. The paper also published on its blog site a variety of views as well as an Inside Editon feature that explored a variety of views and issues surrounding the reestablishment of a person into society after committing a crime and serving a prison term.

In the matters raised for adjudication the Press Council finds that the paper's overall coverage of the matter presented a number of viewpoints. Issues such as this highlight the difficult challenge newspapers have of balancing their coverage between the public's right to know and the rights of individuals to privacy.

It is on the issue of the headline that the Press Council is upholding the adjudication as the use of the term 'predator' in the main headline is not supported by the facts in the article.