The Australian Press Council has released findings on an editorial piece in The Australian, which implied investigative reporter Louise Milligan was a “bad, lazy, deceitful” journalist.
The editorial piece published in the Murdoch media broadsheet in 2021, titled “Greatest enemy of truth is those who conspire to lie”, was found to have breached four of the Council’s General Principles.
Releasing the adjudication this morning, the Council said the article presented misleading and unfair content that was “likely to cause substantial offence and distress without a sufficient public interest justification”.
Louise Milligan, reporter for the ABC’s program Four Corners and former employee at The Australian, filed a complaint to the Council in 2021, arguing the editorial implied she and her former boss Sally Neighbour conspire to lie.
“Many people at The Australian know well the work, the habits and the hubris of Sally Neighbour and Louise Milligan,” the editorial read.
Criticising The ABC as both “the game and the gamekeeper” in Australia’s media industry, the editorial went on: “The most dangerous enemy of the journalist is bad, lazy, deceitful journalism.”
The Australian argued the piece was of the “public interest” and intended to hold the national broadcaster to account. The publication believed its editorial was not defamatory because the author did not specifically reference her work, reporting or conduct.
However, the Council found readers of the editorial would draw an “unavoidable conclusion” that Milligan and Neighbour are “associated with ‘bad, lazy, deceitful journalism’”.
“For this reason, the Council considers the editorial misleadingly and unfairly infers that such undesirable traits are associated with the complainant and her journalism,” the Council concluded in its adjudication released today.
“The Council recognises the significant public interest in allowing an editorial to express robust views on matters of important public interest.
“However, the Council considers that naming the complainant, an ABC journalist in an editorial that commented on the ABC and what it considers are the attributes of poor journalism, was likely to cause substantial offence and distress without a sufficient public interest justification.”
‘Bewildering and vile attack’
In a statement posted to her social media accounts, Milligan welcomed the Council’s decision, which has been two years in the making.
“Two years ago, myself and my former boss, Sally Neighbour, were subjected to a bewildering and vile attack by The Australian,” she said.
“Today, a Press Council adjudication finds the editorial was inaccurate, unfair, lacked balance, caused unnecessary distress and was not in the public interest.”
Milligan thanked the journalists, including other former employees at The Australian, for their support throughout the whole process of her complaint to the Council.
“The support was vital because The Australian argued (laughably) the editorial wasn’t about Sally and me,” she said.
“I was able to show during the Press Council hearing that, for starters, two former editors in chief of their own newspaper disagreed.”
Although the editorial named both Milligan and her former boss Sally Neighbour, it was Milligan’s “decision alone” to proceed with the complaint to the Council.
“This process has been wearying and took two years… I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would be for an ordinary, vulnerable member of the public,” she said.
Murdoch’s media empire News Corp dominates the paying member base of the Australian Press Council, which Milligan said is a problem that has now been spotlighted by her case.
“It has demonstrated to me the Press Council needs proper public funding, unshackled from the publications it is adjudicating,” she said.