Melbourne JCCV complaint to

Mr Paul Ramadge
Editor in Chief
The Age
PO Box 257C
Melbourne VIC 3001

Dear Mr Ramadge

I write regarding an article published in The Age on 24 July 2009 entitled ‘Motorcycle victim was Holocaust survivor’. There have been a number of complaints expressed about it from members of our community, which I believe are quite justifiable.

This article concerns a person killed in a road accident, a sadly too common event, but one which I accept The Age may consider worth reporting. That he was an American tourist and a Holocaust survivor may also be of interest to some. But surely the fact that his son is a member of “Melbourne's Adass community, an ultra-orthodox and reclusive group [that]… hit the front pages last year when the principal of the Adass Israel Girls School,… a mother of eight, fled to Israel ahead of allegations of molesting teenage girls at the school” is irrelevant to this tragedy and merely tabloid journalism unworthy of The Age.

The following question comes to mind: if The Age knew that an accident victim was a Catholic, would it bother reporting that, and then in some way link this to child abuse in a Catholic school? I suggest not, hence The Age choosing to publicise this unrelated matter is at best sensationalistic, at worst something far uglier.

There are three issues that concern me. Firstly, The Age has smeared a grieving family by gratuitously connecting their name to what supposedly occurred at the Adass school. Secondly, both the Adass community in particular and the Jewish community in general were traumatised by this alleged child abuse. To bring this up in such an unwarranted way is insensitive and may well open up wounds for many. Thirdly, many members of the Victorian Jewish community already believe that The Age has a bias against Israel, the Jewish State, and thus by implication against Jews. You will well remember the furore caused by Michael Backman’s piece some months ago. Such reporting will only confirm this belief.

Following Backman’s article, Danny Lamm and I suggested, amongst other things, that the Jewish community be permitted to provide cultural sensitivity training to your staff. I believe this to be long overdue and hence repeat our offer.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely
John Searle
President