Noosa Today has strongly denied accusations of political bias after local resident Ingrid Jackson stated she would file a complaint with the Australian Press Council, accusing the newspaper of favouring Independent MP Sandy Bolton in its Queensland State election coverage.
Noosa Today has welcomed the potential complaint, confident that an independent and true assessment by the Press Council will confirm the fairness and balance of its reporting.
Jackson’s criticisms, posted on her Facebook page and repurposed to the “Noosa Truth“ Facebook page, also claim the newspaper is influenced by the Noosa Parks Association (NPA), a group she argues has controlled local politics for decades.
Despite raising a range of ethical concerns regarding Noosa Today’s coverage, Jackson’s social media posts have gone without any balance. She has not included any comments from Noosa Today in any of her posts and according to Noosa Today has made no effort to contact the publication for comment or explanation prior to uploading the posts.
Instead, Jackson has made ongoing disparaging remarks across her social media platforms for months, without offering the newspaper the opportunity to respond to any of those posts.
In addition to her social media posts, Jackson has this week written a formal letter to Noosa Today, in which she outlines her concerns.
She wrote, “The favouritism offered to Bolton and sidelining of her opponents is glaring. The 3 October (sic 4 October) issue of the newspaper was a triumph for candidate Bolton: a large photo and two articles on the front page; photos of her, her media releases, and quotes also featured on pages 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14; in addition, there were her two paid advertisements. Meanwhile, an article about LNP campaign pledges was relegated to page 17, barely noticeable.”
Jackson further expressed her belief that Noosa Today has become a “mouthpiece“ for the NPA, a local political group. She argued that the NPA, which includes former mayors and councillors, has undue influence over the newspaper’s reporting and supports Bolton’s political aspirations.
“The quasi-political grouping has influenced local politics for four decades. Noosa Today appears to have aligned itself with this group, promoting its preferred candidates while sidelining others like Clare Stewart,” Jackson stated in the letter.
Jackson has also taken to social media, where she posted: “Noosa Today’s blatant bias is on display… Sandy Bolton gets a big photo and two articles on the front page, while Clare Stewart’s LNP pledges are barely noticeable on page 17. This is not balanced reporting. The role of the media during elections should be to support democracy by giving fair, balanced, and equal exposure to all candidates.“
She also reposted on the “Noosa Truth“ Facebook page, accusing Noosa Today of lacking journalistic ethics: “The role of the media is to animate democracy, not distort it. Noosa Today has lost all sense of journalistic integrity by aligning itself with the Noosa Parks Association and its preferred candidate.“
In response to these allegations, Noosa Today’s managing director, Paul Thomas, has emphatically denied the accusations of bias.
“We reject any accusations of bias. Editorial decisions at Noosa Today are made on merit, with a commitment to fairness and balance,” Thomas said.
Thomas highlighted that Clare Stewart, the LNP candidate, had received significant coverage since her candidacy was announced at the end of 2023.
“Stewart has been regularly featured throughout the year, starting with the 26 January front-page story ‘LNP targets Noosa,’ and most recently leading the front-page story in the 11 October issue,” he explained.
Thomas also addressed Jackson’s concerns about the 4 October edition, which prominently featured Sandy Bolton. He defended the editorial choice, explaining that the Queensland Government made three major announcements just before entering caretaker mode, all of which had direct significance to the Noosa region. These included funding for the next stages of the Tewantin bypass, a lease commitment for Noosa Hospital, and a new role for Noosa TAFE as a design college after a decade of closure.
“These announcements were highly relevant to the Noosa community, and their front-page placement was fully justified,” said Thomas. “Coverage of state government actions and responses from the sitting MP is standard journalistic practice, particularly when the issues have substantial implications for the community.“
He further refuted the claim that Stewart had been sidelined, pointing out that in the same issue, a half-page was dedicated to LNP pledges on page 17.
“Stewart was quoted, featured and mentioned throughout the pages of the paper,” he said.
“Ms Jackson complained about the ’State Campaigns Underway’ article and how Sandy Bolton received more coverage than others. This story simply provided an overview of the seat of Noosa, with information sourced from the Electoral Commission Queensland.
“Ms Jackson even complained about the placement of quotes and the size of photos. These are decisions made quickly as pages are being laid. Usually the choices are made on photo quality, randomly, or just how it all fits together. To suggest they are politically motivated is absurd as the pages are handled by multiple people just trying to make it all work.“ Thomas stated.
In her formal letter, Jackson also referenced the appearance of Noosa Independent pages in the newspaper’s digital edition, which she described as a “paid supplement from the Bolton campaign that was not labelled an advertorial”.
However, Thomas explained that this was the result of a technical error.
“The Noosa Independent pages in the digital edition were a result of an automated error, which has since been fixed. Yes, we make mistakes at times and as soon as this was brought to our attention, we fixed it and sent a message out to our subscribers.“ Thomas said.
Jackson has also invoked the Journalists’ Code of Ethics in both her social media posts and formal letter, accusing the newspaper of violating the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) standards. “Noosa Today has discarded the concept that the role of the media is to support democracy. The coverage has been skewed, giving an unfair advantage to Bolton,” she wrote.
In response, Thomas reiterated the newspaper’s commitment to ethical journalism.
“We take seriously our responsibility to report accurately, fairly, and without undue influence. To suggest otherwise is unfounded, and we reject any insinuation that our coverage is driven by anything other than professional journalism.”
Thomas further emphasised that Noosa Today has provided “incredible and extensive“ opportunity and coverage of the candidates.
“We challenge anyone to find such comprehensive reporting in a free local newspaper anywhere else in the country,” he stated.
