TEENAGE TERRORIST BEHEADING PLOT FEARED AFTER POLICE SHOOT DEAD 18-YEAR-OLD NUMAN HAIDER — The Age, 25th September, 2014

Hello I'm Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch.

And it's been another week of terror in the Australian media with Afghan-born teenager Numan Haider shot dead in South East Melbourne after stabbing two police officers.

And if you're wondering why we blurred his photo on the cover of The Age-and page one of the Sydney Morning Herald and Canberra Times- here is the reason:

Apology for incorrect photograph — Sydney Morning Herald Online, 25th September, 2014

No, really? Yes, really.

The young man in a suit was not Mr Haider, and we unreservedly apologise to him for the error. The young man has no connection whatsoever with any extremist or terrorist group ... — Sydney Morning Herald Online, 25th September, 2014

Not surprisingly the innocent man's family was devastated, with his father, Sher Alam, telling Media Watch

My son is upset and crying all the time. All of my family is upset. We came from overseas to set up a new life. It's shameful that they can do this. — Sher Alam, Father, 25th September, 2014

Sher Alam says he has no idea how The Age obtained his son's photograph, or how he can now repair the damage that's been done

Millions of people could have seen this photo, how can I explain this to all of them that my son is not a terrorist? He's studying and I had a good dream for him, but now what does he have? — Sher Alam, Father, 25th September, 2014

But how on earth did The Age get it wrong?

Well, they took the photo from the Facebook site of a friend of Numan Haider

And they thought it matched other pictures they had of him.

But of course it did not. As Editor-in-chief Andrew Holden told 3AW

ANDREW HOLDEN: There's absolutely nowhere to hide in a case like this. It's a terrible mistake. It shouldn't have happened. We gotta cop it on the chin and it's, and it's terrible for Mr Alam. He's absolutely right. — 3AW, Drive with Tom Elliott, 25th September, 2014

Putting Fairfax's failure to one side the dramatic Melbourne shooting dominated headlines around the country

COPS KILL TERROR SUSPECT — Herald Sun, 24th September, 2014

TERROR SUSPECT KILLED — The Advertiser, 24th September, 2014

And while News Corp's Herald Sun and The Advertiser reported it straight on Wednesday morning,

The Daily Telegraph and Courier Mail were quick to crank it up

COPS KILL FANATIC — The Daily Telegraph, 24th September, 2014

POLICE KILL ABBOTT JIHADI GUNNED DOWN AFTER PM TERROR THREAT — The Courier-Mail, 24th September, 2014

The Telegraph's front page reported the 'teenage Islamic extremist' had 'made repeated threats against the Prime Minister'

And this was soon being recycled on ABC News 24 and Channel Nine's Today Show, by the editor of the Courier Mail's Sunday stablemate.

PETER GLEESON: So the home grown terror threat is there, an extraordinary situation overnight; this guys had plotted to kill the PM ... — Channel Nine, Today, 24th September, 2014

But within a couple of hours the claim had been denied by the Australian Federal Police's acting commissioner Andrew Colvin. And next day the Tele was forced to pull back, admitting:

... Haider is believed to have not made any specific threats against the PM ... — The Daily Telegraph, 25th September, 2014

Meanwhile, with its early deadlines, the Sydney Morning Herald had missed the shooting story entirely in its Wednesday paper, while The Age had missed it for its first edition.

But The Age soon hit back online with its own exclusivescare:

Melbourne terror shooting: Numan Haider 'planned to behead Victoria Police officers, drape bodies in IS flag' — The Age, 24th September, 2014

The Age's claim-by veteran police reporter John Silvester-was also seized on by others in the media, including Seven, Ten and Nine's evening news

PETER HITCHENER: Good Evening, disturbing new information is emerging about the teenage terror suspect shot dead at Endeavour Hills, it's claimed 18 year old Numan Haider planned to behead police and post the images online. — Channel Nine, News, 24th September, 2014

But what was the evidence for this?

Well, Haider was reportedly carrying two knives ... and the flag used by Islamic State ... so it's conceivable he had it in mind, but on ABC Melbourne 774 Victoria's Police chief police Ken Lay was quick to scotch suggestions the 18-year-old was planning to behead anyone.

KEN LAY: What you just mentioned is absolute speculation. I'm not aware of any evidence that would suggest that that's correct ... We do need to be really, really careful of making suggestions and often these quite outrageous suggestions which are, to my knowledge, not based on any fact. — 774 ABC Melbourne, Mornings with Zoe Daniel, 25th September, 2014

Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Denis Napthine was also busy calling for calm

DENIS NAPTHINE: It is not about faith. It's not about ethnicity. It's about the alleged behaviour of an individual. And it's important that our community continue to work together. It is critical that no particular group, within the community, is singled out or targeted. — ABC News 24, 24th September, 2014

Yet even before the Melbourne stabbing, the media was doing exactly that, and giving the public more than enough to worry about

Especially in Sydney where the Sunday Telegraph ran this alarming front page story eight days ago.

CELL BLOCK TERROR How inmates plot terror from inside our toughest jail — The Sunday Telegraph, 21st September, 2014

Inside the Sunday Tele the threat was cranked up with a couple of scary headlines:

STREETS OF TERROR THE JAILHOUSE JIHADIS — The Sunday Telegraph, 21st September, 2014

With a warning that a rogue's gallery of Australia's most dangerous Islamic terrorists were using jail sweepers, visitors and:

...a sophisticated code to continue jihadi activities from inside Goulburn Supermax, Australia's most secure prison. — The Sunday Telegraph, 21st September, 2014

Next day the front page of the Daily Telegraph was even more worrying, because, according to the paper, Goulburn Jail had now exploded

RADICALS RUN RIOT EXCLUSIVE: Jail cancels Muslim prayer as prisoners go berserk — The Daily Telegraph, 22nd September, 2014

Inside, the Tele continued:

Allah is the cry, as radicals go berserk in worst riot for 10 years — The Daily Telegraph, 22nd September, 2014

So did these headlines tell the real story? Or was it a beat up?

On Wednesday in the Goulburn Post, local police chief Superintendent Zoran Dzevlan was quick to answer the question, rubbishing the claim that the 'riot' was on religious lines, telling the Post:

"Whatever the Telegraph reported is totally, totally incorrect" ... — The Daily Telegraph, 22nd September, 2014

The local boss of the prison officers' association, Steve McMahon, agreed, saying:

"Goulburn actually has only a small number of Muslim inmates and the disturbance had nothing to do with religion ..." — Goulburn Post, 24th September, 2014

On a closer look, a good deal of what the Tele claimed in its headlines appears to be misleading or just plain wrong.

Here's a few questions we put to Corrective Services NSW ... and their answers.

Is it accurate to describe Saturday's incident as a "full scale riot along religious lines" as reported in the Daily Telegraph on 22 September? No. Is it accurate to describe Saturday's incident as a "riot" or the "worst riot since 2002"? No. Did the incident involve mainly Aboriginal prisoners? Yes. — Corrective Services NSW, Response to Media Watch questions, 26th September, 2014

Ah. Aboriginal terrorists.

It's clear from Corrective Services NSW and eyewitness accounts-and agreed by the Tele-that the so-called riot began when those aboriginal prisoners were denied access to a BBQ

It's also clear-and agreed-that Middle Eastern inmates weren't involved because they were locked in their cells.

So let's have another Q&A with Corrective Services

Was Saturday's incident related to the cancellation of prayer meetings? No. One prayer meeting had been cancelled at a different prison for prison management reasons. — Corrective Services NSW, Response to Media Watch questions, 26th September, 2014

Right. Now let's go back to the Tele's screaming headline:

RADICALS RUN RIOT EXCLUSIVE: Jail cancels Muslim prayer as prisoners go berserk — The Daily Telegraph, 22nd September, 2014

So in the light of the Corrective Services denials, does the Tele still consider that banner headline to be fair?

Managing editor Rhett Watson told us simply:

YES — Rhett Watson, Managing Editor, The Daily Telegraph, Response to Media Watch questions, 29th September, 2014

Does the Tele also consider it was fair to call the disturbance "a full-scale riot along religious lines"? Again its answer was:

YES. This description was attributed to a source, who added: "The issue wasn't a Muslim-related issue, but it was the Muslim guys who got into it, yelling out to Allah." — Rhett Watson, Managing Editor, The Daily Telegraph, Response to Media Watch questions, 29th September, 2014

And what about the suggestion that it was somehow related to the banning of Muslim prayer at the prison?

Here the Tele told us that its story:

... did not report that the riot was a result of a ban on Muslim prayer sessions — Rhett Watson, Managing Editor, The Daily Telegraph, Response to Media Watch questions, 29th September, 2014

Nor, says the Tele, did it report that Muslim prayers had been banned at the jail.

But let's just have one last look at that front-page headline.

RADICALS RUN RIOT. EXCLUSIVE: Jail cancels Muslim prayer as prisoners go berserk — The Daily Telegraph, 22nd September, 2014

Not radicals, not a riot, and nothing to do with Muslim prayers-or not according to Corrective Services

However there was some truth in the Tele's report.

Tear gas was used

Prison officers were in riot gear.

And Lebanese Muslim prisoners did yell encouragement from their cells

What's more a handful of the Aboriginal protesters were Muslims, and one did taunt prison officers about cutting off their heads.

Is that enough to justify those headlines? We don't think so.

And we might also draw your attention to this picture.

Heavily armed prison guards quelled the violent riot at Goulburn Jail. — The Daily Telegraph, 22nd September, 2014

Yes the guards who quelled the disturbance may well have looked like that but those ones were posing for the opening of Cessnock Jail's maximum security wing last year.

And if in doubt you can buy the picture here.

But let's go back for a moment to the Sunday Telegraph and its Jailhouse Jihadis in Goulburn's Supermax Plotting Horror from behind bars

Here the Sunday Tele claimed the terrorists are able to send messages through other inmates called jail 'sweepers'

That same day Corrective Services NSW pointed out in a media release:

The Supermax prison does not have inmate sweepers. — Media Release, Corrective Services NSW, 21st September, 2014

Ah well, can't win em all.

Now we're not saying the threat from Islamic extremists is illusory. But as the tragic events in Melbourne show, it's already real enough without beating it up, and without fanning the flames still further.

But let's be clear, the media, including the ABC, also need to be careful about where critics of a terror crackdown are coming from

Audience member (Rebecca Kay): ADL make threats to myself and my family, telling them that they want to behead me. So everything you're saying right now is very insulting. MICHAEL KEENAN, Minister for Justice: Well, let me assure you, we don't police in a way in this country that targets one group over another. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, you do. — ABC, Q&A, 22nd September, 2014

As Andrew Bolt pointed out, that woman on Q&A last week is Rebecca Kay.

She complained that death threats against her by right wing groups had been ignored by police.

And Miranda Devine has revealed this Facebook post from her in June this year.

The Islamic State has been established. Allahu Akbar — Facebook, 30th June, 2014

Rebecca Kay tells Media Watch she was not then aware of how brutal they were and she now regards IS as...

....a bunch of terrorist thugs. I don't support ISIS. — Rebecca Kay, 29th September, 2014

So, why did Tony Jones and Q&A not make her background clear?

The program's executive producer Peter McEvoy told us: