Press Council upholds complaint against SMH over Jonathan Marshall story

Jonathan Marshall

The Australian Press Council (APC) has upheld a complaint against The Sydney Morning Herald over a story which criticised then News Corp Australia journalist Jonathan Marshall as a “maverick” while working as a journalist in New Zealand.

Marshall rose to prominence in 2012 while working for the Sunday Telegraph when he broke the story of broadcaster Alan Jones telling a Liberal Party function then Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s father “died of shame”. In the media furore that erupted afterwards, Marshall’s secret recording of Jones’s comment became a discussion point in the controversy.

The Council today issued a ruling upholding a complaint from Marshall that the SMH failed to take reasonable steps to ensure accuracy and fairness in relation to the story headlined: “Maverick who likes to bend rules”.