Adjudication No. 1482 (adjudicated October 2010) [2010] APC 32

Adjudication No. 1482 (adjudicated October 2010)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Jeff McNeill concerning an article in the Bairnsdale Advertiser on 20 August 2010. The article was based on a press release by Mr McNeill criticising local MP Darren Chester for failing to represent adequately the many people with disabilities in his electorate. It included refutations made by Mr Chester when the newspaper sought his response.

The press release criticised recent comments by Tony Abbott as disparaging of people with disabilities. It included questions that Mr McNeill said he sought unsuccessfully to ask Mr Chester at a "meet the candidates" event, including whether Mr Chester shared Mr Abbott's views and, if not, would convey his disapproval to the Coalition leader. It said that after the meeting Mr McNeill asked these questions of Mr Chester who said that he was embarrassed by the comments but had not contacted Mr Abbott about them.

The article drew substantially from Mr McNeill's press release, including his criticisms of Mr Chester's efforts on behalf of people with disabilities, but omitted the references to the meeting, the questions Mr McNeill wanted to ask, and his discussion with Mr Chester.

Mr McNeill complained to the Council that he had not been consulted about the proposed article and that it was not a "fair representation" of the press release. He also complained that the editor's decision to omit references to the meeting were influenced by a conflict of interest because he had chaired the meeting.

The newspaper said it had told Mr McNeill before publishing the article that it "would not be running a commentary of a private conversation" between him and Mr Chester. It said that it sought comment from Mr Chester "for balance" and that this had "heightened significance given there would be no other opportunity for Mr Chester to provide a response ... prior to the August 21 election".

The Council considers that newspapers are entitled to focus on part of a press release, and to seek comments responding to it, provided that they comply with the Council's principles in relation to such matters as accuracy, fairness and balance. It does not consider that the article breached these principles. It also does not see significant ground for concern about a conflict of interest on the part of the editor.