Chairman of Press Council to retire

Press, 30 November 1987, Page 28

Chairman of Press Council to retire

PA Wellington Sir Thaddeus McCarthy, who has been chairman of the Press Council since 1978, has announced his retirement at the end of this year. “I shall step down with very real regret, because I have enjoyed the work. Sir Thaddeus said. “I believe the Press Council fills an important role as a public watchdog over the standards of journalism of daily and community newspapers.” Sir Thaddeus, in addition to his chairmanship during the last 9% years, has taken a keen interest in* the Press Council since he helped establish it 1972. The Press Council win appoint his successor at its next meeting. The president of the Newspaper Publishers’ Association, Mr Ray Smith, said the N.P.A. was extremely sorry Sir Thaddeus had decided to retire. "Since he took over from the first chairman. Sir Alfred North, in 1978, Sir Thaddeus has given conscientious and distinguished service to the journalists of New Zealand,” Mr Smith said. “His widely recognised

abilities, his profcmtonal expaNoce, ant Nt Mge and undemandiag of how newspapers Have combined to give the council invaluable leadership in its work of making decisions on complaints brought against newspapers by members of the public.” - Apart from his work as chairman. Sir Thaddeus was remembered by many for the detailed work he did In preparing for the establishment of the council. "Among other things Sir Thaddeus, then a member of the Court of Appeal, had been chairman of the Press Council in Britain since 1963,” Mr Smith said. He later made detailed recommendations as to how a press council could best be established here, and his advice was followed closely when the council was established in 1972. Mr Tony Wilton, the national secretary of the New Zealand Journalists* Union and secretary of the Northern Journalists’ Union, said Sir Thaddeus’s retirement would be a considerable loss for the Press Council. Under his chairmanship and at his initiative, the

council was iwuvcmroa sms-ts? -'x ' SMBf [pt qCCBMjOS . "viv ™*&**?** council Wlre-ra demning the encrowchcommercial pressures into news column their over-all nmemment of its work under Sr Thaddeus was positive. The council has skowna robust consistency in > defence of press freedom. In its landmark cams - such as the 1983 depute between the "Dominion” and Sir Robert Muldoon — the council delivered wepreasooed decisions that furthered the principle ot the pubic’s right to know.;

"These decisions have borne the stamp of a distinguished Jurist who has a dear sense of put*lie attitudes,” Mr Wilton said. <

"His experience, wisdom and common sense will be missed. Journalists thank Sir Thaddeus tar his work and wish him welt” .