Telegraph cleared by Press Council over Slipper ‘King Rat’ front page
Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph has been cleared by the Australian Press Council over a controversial front page which depicted former Speaker Peter Slipper as a giant rat.
In early October last year, the newspaper published the front page with the headline: “King Rat deserts ship” following the resignation of the MP as Speaker of the House of Representatives the night before.
The paper’s depiction of the MP drew controversy and at the time and led reader Jan Winstanley to lodge a complaint with the Australian Press Council.
In a ruling handed down yesterday the APC chose not to uphold the complaint arguing that: “the use of the term “King Rat” in this context was not so highly unfair and offensive as to outweigh the public importance of allowing robust expressions of opinion on issues of political controversy.”
However, in handing down the ruling the APC clarified that the digital alteration of photographs, often referred to as “photoshopping”, was note the same as cartoons and that publishers needed to exercise caution.
“The Council considers that altered photographs are not necessarily to be assessed on precisely the same basis as if they were cartoons,” said the APC in the ruling.
“First, the risk of excessive unfairness can be greater when, for example, the change is to an otherwise accurate photograph of a person’s features rather than being merely a cartoonist’s caricature. Second, the likelihood of confusion between fact and comment can be greater where photographs are involved.”
It also warned publishers to be cautious of the way they treat politicians, specially making the point that they were not necessarily “fair game.”
“The Council does not consider that politicians are “fair game” for extreme levels of abuse and ridicule. Indeed, such behaviour can unreasonably inhibit their freedom of expression as well as harm the important processes of democracy and good governance,” wrote the Press Council.
The Telegraph’s October front page was not the first time that the newspaper had depicted Slipper as a rat. With the newspaper using the imagery on a number of occasions following his defection from the Coalition in late 2011.
In this instance the Press Council ruled that while “the highly pejorative nature of the alterations and their prominence on the front page created a substantial risk of excessive offence and unfairness” it ultimately had to balance out the newspaper’s right to freedom of expression.
In its ruling it wrote: “Despite these concerns, the Council considers on balance that they are outweighed by the overall public importance of freedom of expression. Accordingly, the complaint about the altered photograph is not upheld.”
Nic Christensen
Bravo. Maybe we’re not descending into North Korea just yet.
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Another example of the club members judging the club, pathetic
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@Robbo How on earth is altering someone’s appearance to look like a rat a representation of journalistic freedom?
How about the moron’s reading this rag read the article and form their own opinion. What a joke.
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