Australian Press Council Finds Age, SMH Breached Standards Over Jan. 7 Antisemitic Cartoon
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 12
Australian Press Council Finds Age, SMH Breached Standards Over Jan. 7 Antisemitic Cartoon
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 12
Summary
A Jan. 7 Cathy Wilcox cartoon in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald breached press standards, with the Australian Press Council saying it was likely to cause substantial offence, distress and prejudice, particularly to Jewish people.
The council said the image encoded an antisemitic trope that Jewish people secretly control or manipulate global events, governments, financial systems or the media, and stressed that stronger editorial checks were needed amid heightened sensitivities over antisemitism.
Nine’s papers had already apologized days after publication, calling the cartoon divisive and acknowledging the hurt caused while defending room for political expression and cartoonists’ freedom to depict world events.
The ruling marks a notable tightening from earlier council decisions that gave broad latitude to controversial cartoons, including findings in 2016 and 2019 that other widely criticized works did not breach standards.