Complaints Report: 1993
Thirty seven complaints were received in 1993 compared with 51 in 1992. Up to the end of 1993, the Council had received 389 complaints and held 29 hearings.
One hearing was held in 1993. Reports of the Council's adjudications and mediations appear below.
COMPLAINT
STATISTICS:
| Complaints carried forward
from last year |
0 |
| Complaints received in '92 |
37 |
| Telephone Inquiries in '92 |
233
|
ABOUT:
| Advertising
|
4 |
| News stories |
19 |
| Opinion/Editorial comment |
7 |
| Letters to the Editor |
3 |
| Headlines |
1 |
| Other |
3 |
AGAINST:
| Metro Dailies |
14 |
Regional Dailies |
5 |
| Community Newspapers (members) |
6 |
(Non-members) |
12 |
DISPOSED OF:
| By formal adjudication |
1 |
| Refused as inappropriate |
5 |
| Not followed up |
8 |
| Mediation |
9 |
| Withdrawn for legal action |
1 |
| Referred to other organizations |
6 |
| Carried forward |
1 |
| Newspaper satisfied complaint |
5 |
| Beyond 6-month rule |
0 |
| Non-member paper refused to participate |
1 |
| Other |
0 |
JOHN HOFSESS vs. THE VANCOUVER SUN
Held at the Sheraton Inn Plaza 500, Vancouver, Nov. 26, 1993.
Text of formal adjudication:
The B.C. Press Council has dismissed, with two reservations, a multi-faceted complaint by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada, against the Vancouver Sun regarding the accuracy of a news story by Nicole Parton in the newspaper April 26, 1993.
The articie in question was headlined RCMP probing Right to Die Society; director John Hofsess under investigation. It appeared on Page B-10.
In his complaint, Hofsess stated that a reference to an RCMP investigation into his activities with the Right to Die Society "was biased and misleading." Mr. Hofsess contends that he is not under RCMP investigation and that the contention that he Is is due to a complaint being laid against him more than a year ago by "prolife activist Cheryl Eckstein, alleging that Sue Rodriguez had been counselled by me about suicide in violation of Section 241 of the Criminal Code. The complaint is and remains on file. That's it - period. I've never been contacted by the RCMP. Sue Rodriguez has never been contacted by the RCMP, neither of our lawyers ... have been contacted about this matter."
Mr. Hofsess also objected to the accuracy of several other points in the story but his central concern was that the artide was not newsworthy and had been motivated by Ms. Parton's malicious desire to "write a negative article about The Right to Die Society for personal reasons."
After careful examination, the Press Council has ruled that the above complaints about inaccuracies in the story were not well founded.
The Press Council recognizes that the Right to Die Society controversy has been a continuing one, and that the Vancouver Sun felt it had a responsibility to continue to report on an issue that has generated much public interest.
In making that observation, the Press Council does not support Mr. Hofsess' allegation that malice was a factor in Ms. Parton's decision to write the story and the Sun's decision to publish it.
However, the Press Council wishes to express two reservations about the story. Firstly, the Press Council believes that the story would have been fairer to both readers and Mr. Hofsess if it had informed readers as to the nature of the RCMP investigation instead of leaving it unanswered and thereby open to speculation by readers. Was this a new investigation or an old one? If it was an old one, was there a new development that made it newsworthy? It appears not. The Sun had already reported on the investigation. On Dec. 2, 1992, the Vancouver Sun ran a story from Victoria marked "Special to the Sun" which stated that the RCMP was investigating "whether Hofsess and other members of his society have counselled Rodriguez (Sue) to commit suicide." The story also says the investigation was "sparked" by a formal complaint lodged by "anti-abortionist Cheryl Eckstein."
In addition, the Parton story fails to establish a direct link between the source confirming the investigation (RCMP Cpl. Wayne Conley of the RCMP's Sidney detachment) and the specific nature of that investigation. Instead, Ms. Parton relies on the same Cheryl Eckstein of Surrey for that information, paraphrasing her as saying "The RCMP's interest in Hofsess pertains to sections of the Criminal Code concerning assisted suicide." How exactly Ms. Eckstein comes to know that is not made clear in the story, an omission which could leave the reader confused as to the exact nature of any investigation.
Secondly, the Press Council notes that the headline (RCMP probing Right to Die Society; director John Hofsess under investigation) was misleading, stating that the Right to Die Society was being investigated when nothing in the article substantiated that.
Apart from
the above reservations, the Press Council dismisses the complaint.
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