Complainant / NT News
The Press Council has considered a complaint about a front page article in NT News on 27 February 2017 in print, headed “HE TOLD ME HE LOVED ME” in quotation marks, superimposed on a large photograph of the complainant’s 14-year-old daughter. Below this were two sub-headlines, the first of which read “Friends shattered by teen highway tragedy”. The article was also published online, headed “Friends in shock over death of Darwin teens…on Stuart Highway”.
The article concerned the “death of two young men killed in a car accident”. The photograph of the complainant’s daughter occupied most of the page. The article referred in passing to friends and family missing the deceased, but mostly concerned the daughter’s friendship with the boys, her reaction to their deaths and her last contact with them at a party the night of the accident. It also reported her comments that she “would never forget” the boys, with one of whom she “had a ‘special connection’”.
Given the complainant consented to her daughter being interviewed and photographed, the Council did not consider that a reasonable expectation to privacy had been breached and, accordingly, did not uphold the complaint based on General Principle 5. Nor did the Council consider, in such circumstances, that the material for publication was gathered by deceptive or unfair means. Accordingly, the Council did not uphold the complaint based on General Principle 7.
However, the Council noted the emphasis on the complainant’s daughter and particularly the prominent photograph of her on the front page. It also noted her age and likely emotional state, the subject matter about which she was being interviewed and the close proximity in time to the death of the boys. Given these sensitive circumstances, the publication ought to have informed the complainant that an article that focused on her daughter rather than tributes from a number of friends was proposed. Having regard to these factors, the Council considered that the publication failed to take reasonable steps to avoid causing substantial offence and distress to those close to the boys. The public interest in the reporting on matters of road safety did not justify the prominent focus on the complainant’s daughter. Accordingly, the Council upheld the complaint based on General Principle 6.
Anne Lobo / NT News
The Press Council has considered a complaint about a front page article in NT News on 27 February 2017 in print, headed “HE TOLD ME HE LOVED ME” in quotation marks, superimposed on a large photograph of a 14-year-old girl. Below this were two sub-headlines, the first of which read “Friends shattered by teen highway tragedy”. The article was also published online, headed “Friends in shock over death of Darwin teens…on Stuart Highway”.
The article concerned the “death of two young men…tragically killed in an accident on the Stuart Highway - now believed to have been the devastating result of a prank gone wrong”. The photograph of the girl occupied most of the page. The article referred in passing to friends and family as missing the deceased, but mostly concerned the girl’s friendship with the boys, her reaction to their deaths and her last contact with them at a party the night of the accident. It also reported comments from the girl that she “would never forget” the boys, with one of whom—the nephew of the complainant—she “had a ‘special connection’”.
The Council accepted the publication’s claim that it relied on several sources for the belief that a “prank gone wrong” caused the accident. This statement was not presented as a verified fact and, accordingly, the Council did not uphold the complaint based on General Principles 1 and 2 in this respect.
The Council considered that the public interest in reporting on matters of road safety outweighed any breach of the complainant’s family’s reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to the coverage. Accordingly, the Council did not uphold the complaint based on General Principle 5.
The Council accepted that the publication intended the article to be a tribute to the boys. However, given the absence of comments or photographs from other friends or family, the heavy emphasis on the girl and on her reaction and comments, and the likely emotional state of those affected, the article was likely to cause substantial offence and distress, without sufficient public interest. Accordingly, the Council upheld the complaint based on General Principle 6.