Daily Telegraph Editorial: Press Council defends cycling’s selfish traffic fools

On November 25 last year, The Daily Telegraph published a report about the antics of an outfit calling itself Critical Mass, a group with which many Sydneysiders will be more familiar than they would wish to be. We did not flatter the group in our report.

For their decision to cause serious and unnecessary inconvenience to thousands of motorists by riding their bicycles across the Harbour Bridge in peak hour on Friday night, we called them “selfish fools”. And we gave readers the phone number of the Critical Mass spokesman so they could let him know what they felt about the bike ride. Quite a few readers took the opportunity, apparently, so that service was well received.

But reader Mark Robinson and — we assume — Critical Mass member, was offended, taking his complaint to the Press Council, claiming we’d confused opinion with straight reporting and that by publishing the phone number we’d invaded their spokesman’s privacy.

Well, the Press Council upheld the complaint. Fine. But we stick to our opinion without apology. We say these people did behave like selfish fools. As to the publication of the phone number, it seems a peculiar set of circumstances where the spokesman for an organisation — its public face, if you like — wants to remain anonymous.

If you don’t want to be known publicly, don’t be in the publicity business; that might be the message. We remain unchastened.

The Daily Telegraph, printed and published by the proprietor,

Nationwide News Pty Ltd. A.C.N. 008438 828 of 2 Holt St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, at 2652 Hume Highway, Chullora.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by the Editor, David Penberthy