ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017 No. 41 The Australian Press Council Address: Level 6, 309 Kent Street Sydney 2000 Phone: (02) 9261 1930 or 1800 025 712 Fax: (02) 9267 6826 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.presscouncil.org.au ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017 Annual Report No. 41 Year ending 30 June 2017 Level 6, 309 Kent Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Australia Telephone: (02) 9261 1930 1 800 025 712 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.presscouncil.org.au ISSN 0156-1308 Contents 1. About the Press Council ............................................................................................................... 11 Overview .................................................................................................................................................... 11 Membership of the governing body .......................................................................................................... 13 Changes to membership ............................................................................................................................ 15 Constituent bodies of the Press Council .................................................................................................... 16 Press Council sub-committees ................................................................................................................... 17 Secretariat .................................................................................................................................................. 17 2. Standards and policy ................................................................................................................... 19 The Standards of Practice .......................................................................................................................... 19 Reporting on children and young people .................................................................................................. 20 Discussion Day on Guidelines and Standards ............................................................................................ 21 Reconciliation Action Plan .......................................................................................................................... 23 3. Complaints .................................................................................................................................. 25 Complaints-handling .................................................................................................................................. 25 Complaints charts ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Remedies without adjudication ................................................................................................................. 30 Feedback from complainants ..................................................................................................................... 31 4. Public Affairs ............................................................................................................................... 33 Freedom of speech and of the press ......................................................................................................... 33 Awards and prizes ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Meetings with outside organisations ......................................................................................................... 35 Media coverage .......................................................................................................................................... 37 5. Finances ...................................................................................................................................... 39 Funding in 2016-2017 ................................................................................................................................ 39 Triennial commitments .............................................................................................................................. 39 Assets and liabilities ................................................................................................................................... 40 Statement of financial position .................................................................................................................. 41 Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... 43 A1. Designated Resolutions ....................................................................................................................... 45 A2. Reconciliation Action Plan ................................................................................................................... 49 A3. Member Publications ........................................................................................................................... 59 A4. Detailed complaints statistics .............................................................................................................. 77 A5. Summaries of adjudications 2016-2017 .............................................................................................. 81 A6. Full adjudications 2016-2017 ............................................................................................................... 85 3 4 Foreword from the Vice-Chairs The 2016-17 reporting period was a successful one for the Press Council in a number of ways, despite some challenges that arose as the year drew to an end. We welcomed four new member publications as constituent bodies, among them Australia’s leading Indigenous newspaper, the Koori Mail, and the country’s only newspaper aimed at children, Crinkling News. We continued work on refining our Standards and Advisory Guidelines and conducted community consultations in several cities with a view to developing a new Standard or Guideline on reporting about and relating to children. We awarded prizes to outstanding university journalism students, we developed a major training package for journalism schools, and we launched the Council’s first Reconciliation Action Plan. Our Chair, Professor David Weisbrot AM, spoke out frequently on the challenges facing the media industry and media freedom. He called publicly for Facebook to begin playing a more responsible role in editorial control over what is disseminated via this increasingly powerful news channel. We strengthened our contacts and cooperation with other press councils around the world, particularly in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The next few years will be crucial for media in Australia and elsewhere, as publishers and editors strive to adjust to a rapidly changing environment and to ongoing financial pressures. Those pressures are likely to have an impact on the Press Council. It is vital that the Press Council’s funding be adequate for the tasks it performs in this changing environment, and that its funding base not be eroded. It is also vital that the Press Council adjusts its approach to its regulatory function, as the media adjust in response to the need for change. A number of Council members departed in the reporting period, as their terms ended or for other reasons: Julian Gardner AM (Vice-Chair), Melissa Seymour-Dearness (public member), Susan Skelly (Bauer Media) and Bryce Johns (APN News & Media). We are grateful to them for their invaluable contributions. We welcomed Zione Walker-Nthenda and Carla McGrath as public members of the Council, as well as Kirstie Parker as an industry panel member. The appointment of Carla McGrath was criticised in the media and elsewhere on the basis that it was said to be likely to give rise to significant and ongoing conflicts of interest, arising from Ms McGrath’s membership of the Board of GetUp!. Much of this criticism was directed at Professor Weisbrot, although the appointment was made by the Council after consideration of his recommendation that she be appointed. Some of the criticism was of a personal nature. Professor Weisbrot decided, to the disappointment of the Council, that in the light of the criticisms made of him, criticisms he disputed, he no longer wished to continue as Chair. Accordingly, he resigned in July 2017, seven months before the expiry of his initial three-year appointment. Professor Weisbrot’s departure is a significant loss to the Council and to journalism in this country. His wisdom and dedication, and his affable personality, will be missed. We remain committed to the Australian Press Council as an energetic, respected and effective standards body. Julie Kinross Hon John Doyle AC 5 6 Executive Director’s Report In my work as Executive Director, I witness on a daily basis the valuable role the Australian Press Council plays—for the community interested in or concerned by print and online media coverage, and for print and online media itself—by advancing robust free speech and holding publications to account in accordance with its Standards of Practice. Naturally, complainants and publishers do not always agree with the decisions of the Press Council’s Adjudication Panels. It is not surprising that many times one party may be disappointed by what is decided. But I continue to believe that all parties share the view that the Press Council plays a crucial role in Australian society and is a necessary bulwark