Geelong Advertiser should not have told readers about man threatening to jump off car park, rules press watchdog

Tim Burrowes

July 28, 2018 1:48

A newspaper which reported widespread disruption in a city centre has been found guilty of beaching Australian Press Council guidelines because it told readers that a “distraught” man was threatening to throw himself off a car park.

The APC ruled that while News Corp’s Geelong Advertiser was entitled to tell its online readers that disruption was taking place, it should not have revealed the reason. The article appeared online in April last year.

The APC’s rules on reporting of suicide state that the method and location of a suicide should not be described in detail unless the public interest in doing so clearly outweighs the risk of causing further suicides.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.