Peter Newport against the Otago Daily Times

The Otago Daily Times published two articles on November 20 and 23, 2024 about pollution from the Shotover wastewater treatment plant.

Crux managing editor Peter Newport complained the November 20 article contained false information from a Queenstown Lakes District Council which misled the community on an issue of public safety. It also damaged Crux’ reputation by giving a wider audience to a false council claim that contradicted Crux’ coverage.

Mr Newport also claimed the ODT’s November 23 lead story copied a Crux story without attribution. 

He said the failure to publish false information from the council without checking it was a breach of Media Council Principle (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance.

In response the ODT rejected the claim of plagiarism. It set out how the ODT story originated and that the reporter who wrote the story had not seen Crux’ coverage or drawn on it.

It added the statement provided by the council in response to questions from the ODT and this was quoted in good faith.

The Media Council notes that rival publications frequently cover the same story at or about the same time and, this alone, does not amount to evidence of plagiarism. With a story of significant public interest, where multiple parties would be concerned about a failing wastewater plant, information can get out rapidly.  Inevitably one publication will get its story out first and others might follow, choosing a similar or different approach depending on their readership and what information might already be in the public domain.

The Council saw no evidence supporting the claim of plagiarism and believed the ODT provided credible evidence on how the story was prepared without reference to Crux.

As to the claim that it published false information, it was clear from the context that the ODT was just quoting the district council and there was no evidence that the statement was false.

Decision: There were no grounds to proceed.