PRESS COUNCIL ADJUDICATION

THE Press Council has considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published online by the Geelong Advertiser on 20 April 2017, headed “Malop St locked down as police negotiate with distraught man atop Market Square mall”.

The article reported that a “man climbed over a rooftop barrier atop the Market Square complex and dangled over the street” leading to a “rooftop standoff” in which “police shut down the busy street to negotiate with the man who was threatening to jump”. It included a short video of the incident and a photograph of the man sitting with his legs dangling off the rooftop edge with his head in his hands. The article reported in detail about traffic diversion and closures of public spaces.

The Council accepted the photograph and video did not identify the man involved and did not intrude on his reasonable expectations of privacy. Accordingly, the publication did not breach General Principle 5. The Council was also not satisfied that the report would cause substantial distress or a risk to the health and safety of any person including the man involved, since it was published following the incident’s resolution. Accordingly, the publication did not breach General Principle 6.

The Council considered that the article’s heading, photo, and statements that the man “climbed over the rooftop barrier”, “was threatening to jump”, and “Police are negotiating with the man”, amounted to reporting the incident as an attempted suicide. The police comments in the updated article reinforced this. The Specific Standards on Coverage of Suicide therefore applied. The publication did not attempt to obtain consent from the man involved, appropriate relatives or close friends. The Council considered that although it was in the public interest to report on the disruption the incident caused, this could have been served without reporting about it as an attempted suicide. Accordingly, the publication breached Specific Standard 3 on Coverage of Suicide.

The Council considered that while the traffic disruption justified reporting the location, it was not in the public interest to publish the method of attempted suicide. Accordingly, the publication breached Specific Standard 5 on Coverage of Suicide. The Council did not consider the article gave undue prominence to its reporting of the incident. Accordingly, the publication did not breach General Principle 7 on Coverage of Suicide.

Note: If you or someone close to you requires personal assistance, please contact Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14.

For the full adjudication, see: http://www.presscouncil. org. au/ document- search/ adj-1743.