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Alan’s 8.10 editorial

Article image for Alan’s 8.10 editorial

Press Council June 6 2017

 

 

Well, another redundant body we can do without

This Australian Press Council, which adjudicates complaints against newspaper reporting, has been a joke for years

In 2014 The Australian newspaper wasted a year defending a complaint about an opinion story by a food writer which sang the praises of eating wild Kangaroo meat

The Australian Society of Kangaroos complained the story was not balanced and fair because it failed to include the Society’s contrary view

This is the sort of nonsense the current Press Council concerns itself with

Recently, it undermined its credibility even further by appointing Carla McGrath, the Deputy Chairwoman of GetUp!, as its newest member

In response any number of newspapers say they will no longer appear at Press Council complaints hearings or accept Press Council rulings where McGrath is a participant in adjudications

These newspapers participating in the boycott include the Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Australian, The Townsville Bulletin, The Adelaide Advertiser and The Daily Telegraph

Community Newspapers of Australia, which represents more than 180 mastheads, also agrees McGrath’s roles at GetUp! and at the Press Council are incompatible

Paul Murphy, the head of the journalists’ union, and Professor David Flint, a former Chairman of the Press Council, have called on McGrath to resign

Press Council Chairman, American-born University of Sydney law professor, David Weisbrot, claims McGrath was chosen “for her outstanding personal qualities and qualifications”

He has to be joking

 

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