Last week insuranceNEWS.com.au published an article in the Corporate section headlined “Auditor expresses fear for Cerno following losses”. Cerno management has challenged the accuracy of the word “fear” in the headline.

Prior to publication of the article we invited Cerno to comment, and gave the company’s view considerable prominence. There has been no suggestion that the article is incorrect, unbalanced or unfair.

The word “fear” in the headline referred to the auditor’s clearly stated concerns or apprehension regarding the company’s future. We do not believe the original headline was wrong or misleading, or indeed that readers make judgements based solely on a headline.

However, this is a debate that’s not worth having, so we have changed “fear” to “concern”.