Daily Telegraph’s ‘Booze drugs dole rort’ article slammed as misleading by Press Council
News Corp’s The Daily Telegraph has been rebuked by the Australian Press Council over its article “Bludgers’ disgrace: Booze drugs dole rort” .
Last year’s April 26 article, which had a secondary headline: “Exclusive: Crooked doctors helping layabouts get out of finding a job”, reported an “investigation by the Department of Human Services” into “tens of thousands of bludgers are using a medical scam – claiming “illnesses” including drug and alcohol abuse – to get the dole without having to find a job.”
Following a complaint, The Daily Telegraph defended the article to the Council, arguing in the context of the article “reasonable readers would agree with the description of those who would prefer to abuse the social security system and enjoy taxpayers’ money rather than look for work as ‘dole grubs’ and ‘dole bludgers'”.
The Sydney tabloid claimed the “article’s focus was not to vilify welfare recipients but to focus public attention on the extent of the welfare burden on the federal budget”.
However the APC that while 70,000 Newstart Allowance, Parenting Payment and Youth Allowance recipients provided medical certificates, “it does not rationally follow that 70,000 were doll budgers”.
It was the Council’s view the Daily Telegraph had failed to take reasonable steps to ensure statements about the 70,000 being “dole bludgers” and “exploiting a loophole” were accurate and not misleading.
The Council also concluded the online article’s headline “Cynical bludge makes us sick: Dole grubs shirking work” read with the inaccurate statement about the 70,000 being dole bludgers was inaccurate and misleading and could not be regarded as reasonably fair or balanced.
On the headline “Crooked doctors helping layabouts get out of finding a job”, the Council also ruled it was misleading and inaccurate as the story did not sufficiently support the claim.
While The Daily Telegraph did amend the post in November 2016 to read “tens of thousands of dole recipients”, as opposed to 70,000, the Council considered this could have been published shortly after the publication was made aware of the complaint.
The Council ruled “the amendments did not provide sufficient remedial action”.
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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The Tele has zero credibility. Apart from anything else they have run the tired old “dole bludger”line into the ground. Maybe this time they also went too far claiming that hundreds of doctors were “crooked” without any evidence.
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