RAYMOND HOSER
PO BOX 599
DONCASTER VICTORIA 3108
AUSTRALIA
E-MAIL: adder@smuggled.com
AUGUST 22 1998
TO - THE DIRECTOR,
AUSTRALIAN PRESS COUNCIL,
303/149 CASTLEREAGH
STREET,
SYDNEY, NEW
SOUTH WALES, 2000
AUSTRALIA.
PHONE:
+61 08 025 712
FAX:
+61 2 9267 6826
Dear Sir/Madam or whom it
may concern,
I hereby wish
to lodge a formal complaint about a Melbourne newspaper, namely the Herald-Sun,
over a single matter. This complaint is one of a litany of grievances against
both this paper and the Age, however I shall not detail these here.
The organizations
I represent (as shown at the end of a letter sent to the editors of both
the above papers) represent well over 1,000 individuals and have no corporate
or government backing of any form. We have long standing grievances against
both papers for editorial bias, deliberate failure to report news stories,
forcible suppression of stories, prohibiting journalists from talking about
certain matters and even improper dismissal, which in at least one instance
was proven, leading to News Corporation making a confidential settlement
in favor of the journalist concerned. Details of these complaints are readily
available on the internet at multiple web servers and sites and are not
repeated here.
All the above
complaints relate to bias in terms of failure to report corruption within
police and related arms of government, including book publications about
the same, court proceedings of major public interest and other matters.
Having said that, many (but not all) of those matters relate to things
you would probably dismiss (if complained about) as the rights of editorial
discretion and we (our organizations) while not necessarily agreeing with
that premise, we accept that as the way things are and your own limited
powers on such matters.
However this
most recent complaint shows that one newspaper the Herald-Sun, has
violated all accepted practices of their own professed journalism code
of ethics. It is on that basis the complaint is lodged.
The Specific
Complaint.
On or about
15 August 1998 two policemen were shot and killed in the Melbourne suburb
of Moorabbin. The story was front page news for some days after in both
major papers and occupied many pages of coverage in the papers as well.
It was by far the most significant story (in terms of page space) for the
entire week the followed in both papers.
On the Monday
morning after the shooting (about 36 hours after it actually happed), copies
of a letter to the editor were sent to both papers with the obvious intention
that it be published. A copy of that letter follows this complaint. The
contents are self-explanatory.
The delay
of about a day in sending it after the shootings were first reported in
the TV news was due to the fact that I had to consult others in the organizations
of which I am a spokesperson for.
The letter
was sent so soon after the shootings in order to pre-empt any negative
and potential criticisms from persons who have previously complained about
civil libertarians who allegedly are noisy and critical when police attack
and/or shoot people but are strangely quiet when police are shot at by
criminals. The inference (and sometimes statement) is to the effect that
civil libertarians support criminals and not police. That inference, statement
or assertion is patently and provably false and even the most cursory of
investigation would confirm this.
Earlier this
year when two police were shot at Box Hill (Melbourne), there was a raft
of letters published in the papers, in particular the Herald-Sun
to the effect just indicated (civil libertarians on the side of criminals).
I am sure you will have no difficulty accessing those letters if you want
to. No doubt that was part of a deliberate and misleading campaign to marginalise
groups including those I represent by aligning us with criminals. This
we are not. Civil liberties groups do not tolerate criminal conduct from
anyone and there is no evidence to the contrary.
However like
I've already indicated, on the occasion of this most recent shooting, we
attempted to pre-empt the circulation of such falsehoods by sending a letter
to the papers in support of the shot police and affirming our lack of support
for those guilty of shooting the police, strongly condemning the action.
This letter was sent to show that we do not have the alleged double standards
as repeatedly and falsely asserted in the pages of the Herald-Sun.
On the day
the letters were sent, a phone call was placed with the relevant letters
editor at the Herald-Sun namely David Aldridge who both acknowledged
receipt and said that the letter would be printed as 'It's the first we
have received on the shootings'. The comment is notable as a series of
other letters have been published by that paper since on the matter which
are remarkably similar to one another (but not my letter) and that in itself
implies that they come from a single source, which may even be within the
paper itself (see below).
There was
no need to ring the Age as within minutes of the letter being faxed,
the letters editor Margaret Cook phoned me and asked for my street address
details for 'our own records'. She also advised me that the letter was
definitely to be published the next day, Tuesday. She also said that it
would be without the notation at the bottom as to whom I was speaking on
behalf of (my name to appear only).
In fact the
letter was not published anywhere.
On Thursday
20 August, the Herald-Sun published two letters which were anti-civil
libertarian and condemned us for not supporting the police against those
who had shot them. One of the letters is reproduced in full to give you
an idea of the tone of the letter.
Where are
the civil libertarians now that police officers have been shot? This tragedy
needs to be recognised as a reason why Victoria Police have guns. Civil
libertarians can't get off their butts quickly enough when police shoot
someone.
Police Supporter,
Kensington.
The statements
within the letter are demonstrably false on two points. Firstly neither
myself or the organizations I was speaking for have ever said that we believe
police should not have guns. Another organization of which I am a senior
member, Australian Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)(please note the name) also
is not opposed to police having guns, so any assertion to the contrary
is false.
Secondly and
far more importantly is that the Herald-Sun letters editor, David
Aldridge had printed the letter, knowing that he had in his possession
a letter clearly rebutting the comment 'where are the civil libertarians…:'.
Besides the
question of editorial balance, which I recall as being the subject of the
recent Lange defamation matter, the simple question of knowingly and recklessly
publishing false and misleading information should be addressed.
I placed no
fewer than 11 phone messages (total) with Aldridge that and the next day
and none were returned.
The same day
(20th August), the original letter was re-faxed to Aldridge
at the Herald-Sun and Cook at the Age. The letter to the
Herald-Sun had a self explanatory note at the top of it and that
letter follows this letter here for your benefit). Both received the second
fax as indicated by staff at both papers. Further phone calls were made
and I managed to speak to Cook where I raised my grievance along the lines
of above. She stated that she hadn't printed anything along the lines of
condemning civil libertarians for their alleged silence, but that such
letters had so far only been printed in the Herald-Sun. She also
said that she had received NONE putting that view across.
Knowing that
it is highly unlikely that several people would send such a letter to the
Herald-Sun and in the same period the Age receive none, the
only fair and reasonable conclusion that can be made is that the letters
published in the Herald-Sun were an 'in-house' job.
In line with
Cook's comments, which I could not dispute, particularly that in relation
to her failure to publish my letter (she hadn't published others that I'd
complained about), I think that it is fair to assume that while I disagree
with their editorial policy, I cannot take this matter any further at this
stage with the Age.
On Saturday
22 August, the Herald-Sun printed a letter which said:
Where are
the civil liberty people now police have been shot? Instead of knocking
police at every chance, why not publicly support them in time of need?
It's a sad
fact of life that police have to carry guns and sometimes use them, but
if there weren't dangerous criminals out there, it would not be necessary.
Matthew French,
Puckapunyal
Again Aldridge
had knowingly and recklessly published a false and misleading letter. Based
on the fact that Aldridge had received multiple copies of my original letter
the only reasonable and fair action on his part should have been either
not to publish the letters referred to above AND at the same time published
my letter that pre-dated all those printed or alternatively not printed
any, which is what the Age chose to do.
In relation
to the letter immediately above it also raises the very serious allegation
that civil libertarians were in cahoots with criminals and that was why
we had been (allegedly) silent at the time of the shooting. Besides the
fact that civil liberties people are not in cahoots with criminals and
no one has ever produced a shred of evidence to support such an assertion,
the letter unanswered makes a serious allegation which editorial guidelines
should at least give the accused a right of reply. THIS WAS NOT GIVEN AT
ANY STAGE.
I am well
aware of your legal limitations and related matters in relation to suing
papers and so on before you can act. Therefore for those purposes please
accept that I undertake not to sue the Herald-Sun over this matter.
You will also
note that it has been the continuation of publication of false information
in the Herald-Sun letters page after the second faxing of my letter
(with the notation at the top) that has given rise to this complaint to
the press council. It cannot be alleged that the newspaper wasn't given
ample opportunity to either desist from publishing false information and/or
publish that which corrected previous lies.
I now ask
you to make a ruling against the Herald-Sun and David Aldridge.
I ask you to publish a ruling that the Herald-Sun and Age
will print in their papers for a full day (as many issues as they publish
that day) upholding my complaint. I further ask that the text of my original
letter and the letters quoted in the complaint form part of (be printed
in) your published ruling. I further ask that your ruling formally condemn
the Herald-Sun and David Aldridge for deliberate misrepresentation
of the facts and their cynical attempt to manipulate public opinion against
civil liberties groups on the basis of their knowingly and recklessly publishing
lies.
Finally, some
years ago I lodged a complaint with the Press Council on another matter,
which you upheld. It did however take a substantial time to be resolved.
I ask that if at all possible, that you speed up the process as much as
you can.
In anticipation
of your help.
YOURS FAITHFULLY
RAYMOND
HOSER.
LETTER TO
THE EDITOR - THE HERALD-SUN
SHOOTINGS
OF VIC. POLICE.
Re the tragic shootings
and killings of two Victorian police officers on the weekend, may we say
on behalf of all civil libertarians that we regard the shootings of two
police officers in the same way as any other senseless murders.
We utterly condemn the perpetrators
of those crimes and along with other law abiding Victorians hope that the
killers are brought to justice and dealt with by the law as soon as possible.
Furthermore while others
and myself have been critical of Police practices and corruption in the
past (and present), including writing books about it, we do not in any
way support the actions of those that have killed or attacked police with
violence. We are at one with police command in saying that the weekend's
killing should never have occurred.
Policing at the best of
times is a very difficult job. However violence and death are not part
of the guidelines and should not be.
We wish to offer our deepest
sympathies to the friends and families of those police officers shot and
like the community at large, hope that the latest killing is not the start
of a more violent part of Victoria's history.
Raymond Hoser, on behalf
of
Whistleblowers Australia,
Whistleblowers Network Australia,
Australians Against Corruption,
Victorian Taxi Driver's
League,
PO Box 599,
Doncaster, Victoria, 3108,
Australia.
Phone: 018-588-699
LETTER TO
THE EDITOR - THE HERALD-SUN
SHOOTINGS
OF VIC. POLICE.
(We note that
today (August 20th 1998) you published two letters condemning
our organisations for not supporting the shot police and ask that you provide
balance to your reporting on this matter, noting that this letter has been
sent to you previously and deliberately overlooked. We are considering
taking the matter to the Press Council).
Re the tragic shootings
and killings of two Victorian police officers on the weekend, may we say
on behalf of all civil libertarians that we regard the shootings of two
police officers in the same way as any other senseless murders.
We utterly condemn the perpetrators
of those crimes and along with other law abiding Victorians hope that the
killers are brought to justice and dealt with by the law as soon as possible.
Furthermore while others
and myself have been critical of Police practices and corruption in the
past (and present), including writing books about it, we do not in any
way support the actions of those that have killed or attacked police with
violence. We are at one with police command in saying that the weekend's
killing should never have occurred.
Policing at the best of
times is a very difficult job. However violence and death are not part
of the guidelines and should not be.
We wish to offer our deepest
sympathies to the friends and families of those police officers shot and
like the community at large, hope that the latest killing is not the start
of a more violent part of Victoria's history.
Raymond Hoser,
on behalf of
Whistleblowers Australia,
Whistleblowers Network Australia,
Australians Against Corruption,
Victorian Taxi Driver's
League,
PO Box 599,
Doncaster, Victoria, 3108,
Australia.
Phone: 018-588-699
Australian Press Council
ADJUDICATION No. 990 (September 1998)
ADJUDICATION No. 990 (September 1998)
The Press Council has upheld in part a complaint by Raymond Hoser
against The Herald Sun, Melbourne, over a lack of balance in its
letters column, following the fatal shooting of two Melbourne policemen
in August.
Within two days of the shootings, Mr Hoser wrote to the paper, apparently
on behalf of four bodies that he described as civil libertarian organisations
- Whistleblowers Australia, Whistleblowers Network Australia, Australians
Against Corruption and the Victorian Taxi Drivers League.
Mr Hoser's letter condemned the killings and expressed sympathies
to the families and friends of the policemen. According to Mr Hoser "the
letter was sent so soon after the shootings in order to pre-empt any negative
and potential criticisms from persons who have previously complained about
civil libertarians who allegedly are noisy and critical when police attack
and/or shoot people, but are strangely quiet when police are shot at by
criminals".
The letter was not published. The Herald Sun said it did not
consider the organisations on whose behalf Mr Hoser had written as representative
of the civil liberties movement. His repeated resubmission of the letter
over a ten-day period failed to change the paper's mind.
During the weeks after the shootings however, The Herald Sun
did publish at least five letters condemning the alleged silence of civil
libertarians about violence against the police. None singled out any particular
organisation for criticism, and the paper still found no reason to publish
Mr Hoser's letter.
Finally, over a month after the shootings, the paper received and
published a letter from the Australian Civil Liberties Union similar in
content to Mr Hoser's.
The Press Council believes The Herald Sun was fully entitled
to reach its own conclusions about the standing of the groups represented
by Mr Hoser. The paper was under no obligation to accept at face value
his assertion that they were representative of the civil liberties movement.
However, the paper was clearly willing to publish several criticisms
of civil libertarians soon after the killings, knowing that it had at least
one correspondent who was vigorously advancing a different perspective.
Timely publication of Mr Hoser's letter (or, as he himself observed, of
any other one with similar views) would have provided balance to debate
on this issue in the letters column.
To the extent that such balance was lacking, the complaint
is upheld.
Australians
Against Corruption home page
Australian
Press Council Judgement Against a Melbourne Newspaper Misrepresenting Raymond
Hoser and others
Australian
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