As The Australian shows, it’s easy for a paper to go overboard – I’ve done it too

Back in the days when I edited a print publication, I once went totally overboard in a story about an apparently out of control public body. It’s only about eight years later that hindsight makes me realise how badly I misjudged the news value at the time – sometimes you get too close to a story.

It feels to me that The Australian has done much the same thing in its battle with Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland.  

In my case, I edited a magazine called Hospital Doctor.

My battle with officialdom was with a British organisation called the General Medical Council, which regulates the conduct of doctors.