Australian law says the media can’t spin lies – ‘entertainment magazines’ aren’t an exception
Last week, in a ruling against Woman’s Day, the Press Council said that gossip magazines are given leeway for ‘factual exaggerations and inaccuracies’. But as Andrew Dodd explains in this crossposting from The Conversation, that doesn’t match up to what defamation laws say. And the Press Council would serve the industry better by recognising that.
In a recent ruling the Australian Press Council has given a signal to gossip magazines it is OK to make up and publish rubbish about people, so long as the stories aren’t “blatantly incorrect”. This is despite the council’s own guidelines stating all member publications must strive for accuracy and avoid being misleading.
The council, which adjudicates complaints against the print media, has also suggested it’s OK to have less rigorous standards when reporting on royalty and celebrities.
And all this happened in a ruling against a magazine for publishing falsehoods.
In an era of blended opinion and news, the regulator should be insisting that publications and programs are clearly categorised by an incremental ‘opinion’ system.
The next generation needs to be given a fair chance to develop their critical thinking before the encroachment of post-truth news becomes the norm.