M WALKER AGAINST NEW ZEALAND HERALD
A complaint by Max Walker of Waiheke Island against the New Zealand Herald has not been upheld by the New Zealand Press Council.The complaint concerned the space given to the “Paddle Waiheke” event held in early February. The kayak event attracted international competitors, including well-known German and South African paddlers. Mr Walker complained that a considerable amount of detail was omitted from the Herald’s coverage. This, he said, was unprofessional and an insult to both local and international competitors.
In defence, the editor said there was a limited amount of space available for sport each day. If kayaking got more space, it would need to be recovered from another sport. The paper tried to be fair, balancing the space for each sport in an attempt to please most readers.
The Press Council considers it entirely reasonable for the paper to condense the coverage of an event to fit the available space. To allow the greatest number of events to be covered other sports had been treated in a similar fashion. The complaint is not upheld.