Press Council board rebukes The Australian over attacks on regulator

September 1, 2014 12:45

The Australian has been rebuked in a resolution passed by the board of the Australian Press Council (APC) after a series of articles and leader pieces attacking the regulator in recent weeks.

A statement released by the APC today says the board supports chairman Julian Disney and rejects “misrepresentations” by the broadsheet, adding: “It also deplores the breach by The Australian of obligations of confidentiality during the Council’s complaint processes.”

In recent weeks the APC and Disney in particular have been at the centre of a campaign by The Australian which alleged the chairman had conflicts of interest in certain cases under adjudication and that he was attempting the make the organisation into a press censor. As part of those cases the paper published details of complaints currently under investigation, breaching undertakings of confidentiality.

The resolution was passed by the Council by 19 votes to nil, with one abstention who was believed to be News Corp editorial director Campbell Reid.

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Nic Christensen

Nic Christensen worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2016, in roles including deputy editor and media & technology editor. He is former media writer for The Australian and has also worked as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph and senior producer for Radio 2GB.

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2 COMMENTS

Dan 1 Sep 14

Stand by for the Oz to now individually target board members. It will be interesting to see how they exempt their own News Ltd rep, Campbell Reid from the attack.

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TheFacts 1 Sep 14

The Press Council is the only rational voice in this debate

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