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Press Council chair to withdraw from two complaints, following pressure from News Corp

Julian Disney

Julian Disney

The chair of the Australian Press Council (APC) Julian Disney is to withdraw from two adjudications, following pressure from two News Corp newspapers.

In a statement released, this afternoon, APC executive director John Pender announced: “Two News Corp papers have written to me insisting, among other things, that the Chair of the Council, Professor Julian Disney, should withdraw from the Council’s adjudication of two complaints relating to them. They did so on the ground that there could be an appearance of bias.”

“At Prof Disney’s request I consulted a Vice Chair of the Council, John Doyle QC, who is a member of the relevant Adjudication Panel. Mr Doyle considered that the demands for Prof Disney to withdraw were not justified, and I was of the same view.”

“Prof Disney has advised me, however, that he will withdraw.”

Pender’s statement went on to explain that Disney did not believe he had to stand down but that he want to avoid having the Council subject to “severe disruptions”, flowing from negative media coverage were he not to withdraw.

“Although he agrees with the view of the Vice Chair and myself, he believes the Council cannot afford to have its complaints work subjected to the further severe disruption which would flow from resisting the newspapers’ demands and related misrepresentations,” said the statement.

“The Chair regrets that his decision may be interpreted as indicating that he would no longer be able to chair adjudications with sufficient independence from News Corp pressures.”

“On the other hand, he is aware that concerns have already been expressed by a complainant that recent criticism in The Australian’s reports and editorials may cause him to be unduly responsive to such pressures when chairing adjudications.”

In recent week the APC has become the subject of a “deliberate campaign” by national broadsheet The Australian, and its parent company News Corp, which claims it has concerns about the direction of the APC under Disney.

News Corp CEO Julian Clarke yesterday told Mumbrella: “We have concerns about certain deliberations that have been made that affect us.”

“We are concerned about the direction, and I reckon you guys should be too, the Council has taken in recent times.”

In a media interview with the ABC’s Media Report yesterday Disney questioned the focus of the News Corp campaign on his leadership telling host Richard Aedy that he rarely had a casting vote on adjudications. 

“One of the keys things here is a misunderstanding that the council is one person, perhaps people who come from an organisation that’s very much run by one person are not that familiar with an organisation which isn’t,” said Disney.

“We have 23 people on the council, some of them very senior and none of them shrinking violets. And for example, the adjudications which are sometimes attributed to me as if they are personal adjudications are not at all, in my time they’ve been either by seven people or by 23 people and I don’t always prevail even if I make my view clear and quite often I’m easy as to which way it goes.

“I actually very rarely vote. I have a deliberative vote and a casting vote but I actually only vote if its a tie, I’ve probably only voted 3 times in my 5 years.”

The APC statement this afternoon emphasised that Disney would continue in his other responsibilities on the Council.

Nic Christensen 

Declaration of Interest: Mumbrella is a member of the Australian Press Council 

Statement from Press Council Executive Director John Pender:

Two News Corp papers have written to me insisting, among other things, that the Chair of the Council, Prof Julian Disney, should withdraw from the Council’s adjudication of two complaints relating to them. They did so on the ground that there could be an appearance of bias.

At Prof Disney’s request I consulted a Vice Chair of the Council, John Doyle QC, who is a member of the relevant Adjudication Panel. Mr Doyle considered that the demands for Prof Disney to withdraw were not justified, and I was of the same view.

Prof Disney has advised me, however, that he will withdraw. Although he agrees with the view of the Vice Chair and myself, he believes the Council cannot afford to have its complaints work subjected to the further severe disruption which would flow from resisting the newspapers’ demands and related misrepresentations.

The Chair regrets that his decision may be interpreted as indicating that he would no longer be able to chair adjudications with sufficient independence from News Corp pressures.

On the other hand, he is aware that concerns have already been expressed by a complainant that recent criticism in The Australian’s reports and editorials may cause him to be unduly responsive to such pressures when chairing adjudications.

Accordingly, the Chair has also decided that he will not participate in the adjudication of any complaints about News Corp publications. This decision has taken account of the fact that it will only affect complaints considered at the one Panel meeting which he is scheduled to chair before leaving the Council next January.

Prof Disney will continue, of course, to lead the Council’s other work. This includes, especially, the promotion of its new General Principles through a series of seminars with media and community representatives around Australia and the finalisation of Specific Standards of Practice relating to digital publishing. As Executive Director, I will need to raise for the Council’s early consideration whether, and if so how, it is able to respond effectively to serious misrepresentations of its work and to breaches by its members of their agreed obligations.

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