Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Germaine 'Greer versus a Saint' .. A Difference of Opinion .. complaint adjudication below ..

Jack R Herman looks at how the Australian Press Council has dealt with complaints arising
from by-lined opinion pieces which comment on, rather than report, the news. .. continued ..
http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/apcnews/may02/opinion.html

From that link .. Adjudication No. 470 (January 1991) [1991] APC 5
ADJUDICATION NO. 470 (January 1991)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint over an article written by Ms Germaine Greer about Mother Teresa. The article entitled "Greer versus a saint" appeared in the Melbourne Age on 6 October 1990.

Mr Francis Power complained that the article was, he believed, a concoction of hearsay, assumptions and objections of Greer herself.

The article recognised that Mother Teresa is widely known as a "living saint" but claims she is not a pioneering champion of liberated women. Greer accused the Nobel Prize winning nun of being a religious imperialist who believes Hinduism and Islam are wrong and Catholicism is right. Mother Teresa and her order are accused of using charitable actions to foist Catholicism on vulnerable people. Their ministrations of the poor are looked upon as being for the sake of the Catholic god and not for the people themselves.

Mr Power did not specify particular parts of the article which he found objectionable. Instead he relies on Mother Teresa's work having been acclaimed from all quarters of the underprivileged.

Mr Power's strong feelings and those of some Catholics regarding this article are understandable. The article, written by a feminist with strong opinions, deliberately set out to be provocative about an eminent Catholic.

The Age defends the article on the grounds that Mother Teresa as a public figure is a legitimate subject for critical press attention.

Germaine Greer has a reputation as a writer and controversial social critic and The Age also believes it should publish a wide range of views, some of which may upset some readers. The Age published a letter of complaint which expressed views about the article similar to those expressed by Mr Power.

The Press Council has consistently held that by-line writers should be free to express strong views. While the feelings of those who view Mother Teresa as a saint are understood, it is unthinkable that opposing views should be censored. The complaint is dismissed.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/apc/1991/5.html

I can't find a copy of 'Greer versus a Saint'.