Adjudication No. 1426 (adjudicated June 2009) [2009] APC 13

Adjudication No. 1426 (adjudicated June 2009)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint from Dr Marion Manifold of the Port Campbell Community Group Inc. over a front page article with the headline Show your Faces and the sub text Town puts heat on mystery community voice that appeared in The Standard, Warrnambool, of January 9, 2009.

The piece features a balancing comment from a local resident who pointed out that the group's postal address was in Camperdown. The resident was quoted as saying he would like to know how many full-time Port Campbell residents were members. He also said that the name possibly would be more accurately "Friends of Port Campbell", if the majority of the group's members were not actually residents of the town.

The complainant consistently refused, on the grounds of privacy, to tell the newspaper how many members were in the group and how many of those were residents of Port Campbell.

Given the paper has only ever been able to make reference to Dr Manifold and the Group's President, Donald Swanson, there is obviously genuine public interest on the part of the paper and other members of the local community to ascertain if the membership is significant and truly representative of many in the community.

The Press Council supports the right of people to be informed by the press on matters of public interest so that they may create their own opinions as citizens. The Standard appears to have taken reasonable steps to publish a fair and balanced report on issues related to a local interest group.