Herald Sun censured by Press Council for inaccurate report on raid on CFMEU offices
The Australian Press Council has censured News Corp’s Herald Sun for failing to ensure accuracy in a report claiming the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) offices had been raided.
The article, which was published online on August 27, 2015, was headed “Taskforce Heracles police raid CFMEU offices” and went on to report that the “CFMEU offices in Swanston Street have been raided…before 9am” by police from Taskforce Heracles, established to examine allegations referred to it by the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption.
The complainant, Clancy Dobbyn, told the Press Council the report was inaccurate, misleading and unfair as no such raid had taken place.
He said upon being contacted by the Herald Sun at 10:20am on August 27 he stated he had no knowledge of any raid.
WTF does censured mean? Nothing.
Maybe the journalist spoke to Dobbin the police horse and not Dobbyn the complainant.
Just as we now get pollies, etc saying “I mis-spoke” instead of “I told a lie”, so we get “The statement that police had conducted the raid was clearly inaccurate.” instead of “They made stuff up”?