Adjudication No. 1396 (adjudicated June 2008) [2008] APC 17

Adjudication No. 1396 (adjudicated June 2008)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint from Josephine Conway over an article titled Weeping for Melody published in The Northern Star on 31 March 2008.

The article arose after the complainant had read an article in the same newspaper a few days earlier which reported that the New South Wales Department of Community Services had been criticised for its performance in child protection matters. That earlier article had suggested that the Department might be responsible for "another stolen generation" in removing some children from the care of their parents.

The complainant contacted the newspaper, and provided considerable information relating to what she perceived to be an injustice by the Department as it related to the situation with her and her deceased daughter, Melody. The complainant's intention was that the newspaper would use the information provided about her family situation in an article to add further weight to the perceived failings of the Department, and particularly that Melody was "stolen" by the Department.

Instead the article dealt with the information in a different way. While picking up the complainant's views about the Department's failings, the article heavily concentrated on the personal and emotional impact that the events (and subsequent death of Melody) had taken on the complainant. The complainant believed this approach was inappropriate and, in addition, that the article contained some factual errors. She also complained about the quality of a published photograph taken of her by the newspaper. (The Council saw no problem with the published photograph.)

The newspaper defended the accuracy of the article, with the exception of one aspect for which it subsequently published a correction. It contended that it had accurately reflected Ms Conway's grief, concerns and suspicions of the Department.

While the Council can understand the frustrations of the complainant, in dismissing the complaint the Council reaffirms its long-held the view that a source cannot dictate the interpretation that a newspaper might take on information provided to it. It is not suggested that the newspaper misrepresented the personal and emotional effects of this major event on the complainant. The matters on which the article is based are complex and the Council is in no position to rule definitively on their accuracy.