What does it take for a cartoon to breach press council standards?

Drawing by cartoonist Cathy Wilcox Sydney Morning Herald And AgeIt was found by the Australian Press Council (APC) to have breached its standards. The cartoon in question was Wilcox’s “Roots from Grass”, published on January 7, 2026, which depicted a group of Australian political and media figures marching to the beat of the drum played by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In its decision published throughout both newspapers The APC yesterday said the cartoon “encodes the anti-Semitic trope that Jewish people secretly control or manipulate global events, governments, financial systems or the media… Accordingly, the council concludes that the publications failed to take reasonable steps to avoid materially contributing to or causing serious offence, distress or prejudice”.