From: Name supplied but
withheld
Date: 5/01/2015 11:13:19 AM
To: The Daily Magnet
Subject: RE: The Australian
Dear Ms
Magnet,
RE: The Australian, “Islamists feel
entitled to impose their beliefs”, 19 June
2014
I write in relation to your emails to the Press
Council in relation to the aforementioned
item.
Please excuse the great delay in responding to
you as the Press Council has transitioned between Executive Directors and
revised Standards of Practice.
As you were not personally identified or directly affected
by the article, the matter was treated as a secondary matter: http://www.presscouncil.org.au/reception-of-complaints/.
In your email, you expressed concern the
letters, “worsened by the adjacent cartoon by Bill Leak”, “lacked balancing
points of view” to one that is “anti-Muslim, culturally ignorant and
exacerbates… divisions in our society”.
We notified the publication in relation to two points in
relation to then applicable General Principle 6: http://www.presscouncil.org.au/uploads/52321/ufiles/Fact_Sheet_prior_to_August_2014_-_General_Statement_of_Principles.pdf.
This pertained to first, whether the letters, a
response to the previous day’s article “Today’s catastrophe springs from
Saddam’s ousting”, were fairly presented; and second, whether the headline
fairly reflects the tenor of the letters.
The publication responded that the letters page
is a reflection of reader opinion, and that the headline is a fair reflection of
the letters, highlighting the most interesting, contentious or provocative of
the themes considered by letter writers.
Having reviewed the matter in accordance with
the Council’s Standards of Practice, including the publication’s response and
the impracticalities of ascertaining any given selection as opposed to
presentation of letters, the Executive Director has considered the matter
inappropriate for further referral, for instance, to the Council’s Adjudication
Panel.
However, we nonetheless relayed your concerns
to the publication, reminding it of the Press Council’s Advisory Guideline:
Religious terms in headlines, which refers to religious and cultural
sensitivities towards minorities. We also advised the publication that while the
Press Council’s Standards of Practice have themselves been revised, this matter
raises an issue which, if arises in future, may require further
consideration.
Please note that should you wish to submit a complaint to
the Press Council in future, this is initiated by the submission of a Complaint
Form at the following address: http://www.presscouncil.org.au/complaint-form/.
For more information, please visit: http://www.presscouncil.org.au/reception-of-complaints/.
Thank you for your interest in media standards
and for your patience.
Yours Sincerely,
|
Complaints and Compliance
Australian
Press Council
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6, 309 Kent Street
GPO
Box 3343
Sydney
NSW 2000
T
02 9261 1930
F
02 9267 6826
The content in question: