Adjudication No. 858 (May 1996) [1996] APC 32

ADJUDICATION No. 858 (May 1996)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Fred Allen about changes made to a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend magazine.

Mr Allen complained that several paragraphs were deleted from a letter he wrote in answer to a Good Weekend essay on Australia Day and a collection of quotations attached to it.

He believes that one particular omission did not allow him to contest a quotation by author Tom Keneally that Australians had no great conflict to celebrate. He also complained about the "political overtones" of deleting his claim that the Japanese had a contemptuous attitude to "dark races".

Good Weekend editor, Anne Summers, said Mr Allen's letter was edited for clarity and space. Ms Summers said one paragraph was changed to correct an error and the letter was cut to match the length of others about the same topic.

The Press Council has previously held that newspapers are entitled to edit letters provided that the tenor and meaning are not changed.