The Australian broke media guidelines in its coverage of the head of a high-profile children’s gender clinic, publishing incorrect information, failing to ensure fairness and causing substantial distress, an Australian Press Council ruling has found.
Royal Children’s Hospital Gender Service director Dr Michelle Telfer said that the Oz‘s coverage — which comprised 45 articles including reporting, editorials and opinion pieces — wrongly claimed that gender-affirming surgery was experimental.
The newspaper did not tell readers the “experts” cited in the pieces did not treat gender-diverse children, or that the articles referred to discredited theories. The sheer amount of coverage and its tenor was harmful to trans people, their families, and Telfer herself, she says.
The Australian pushed back, arguing that it was in the public interest to discuss these matters and that the relevant qualifications of those quoted were cited.
The press council’s adjudication upheld many of the issues raised in the complaint against the paper, finding it had breached three press guidelines.
The Australian’s reporting that the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists had abandoned a set of guidelines for trans and gender-diverse children was wrong, the council found.
It also ruled that the articles repeatedly quoting professionals criticising Telfer without making it clear that they weren’t specialists in the relevant area meant that the publication did not take reasonable steps to ensure fairness and balance.
And while acknowledging there is public interest, the council said The Australian did not take reasonable steps to avoid causing distress or prejudice while making a large number of references to Telfer and implying the Gender Service’s treatment was “out of step with mainstream medical opinion”.
The decision also acknowledged that some of the issues raised by Telfer were unable to be resolved as there was “conflict in the research material”.
The Royal Children’s Hospital noted the press council’s findings in a statement, reaffirming that it stood by the clinic’s work: “The continued campaign has impacted [Tefler], the Gender Service team, our patients and the transgender community. The APC adjudication confirms that media outlets have an obligation to deliver accurate, unbiased reporting on transgender issues.”
Telfer also shared the outcome of the complaint on her personal Twitter. “The truth and the facts matter. They are worth fighting for,” she wrote.
As it has before, The Australian paired this adverse press council finding with an editorial suggesting the decision was “another example of cancel culture tactics used to stifle debate”.
“We will not shy away from uncomfortable topics that deserve attention,” the author wrote.
This promise is at the very least consistent with the paper’s past behaviour. A study from academics Alexandra García and Joshua Badge this year found that News Corp publications wrote about trans people more than any other Australian media outlet. When looking at a sample of The Australian’s coverage, the authors found more than 90% of articles framed transgender people and issues negatively.
Badge told Crikey that the press council’s decision was a “small step in the right direction” but still considered it lacking, noting the absence of admonishment for using experts who weren’t practicing in the area, or for causing distress to gender diverse people and their families.
“There’s also very little evidence that suggests the press council advisory guidelines for reporting on LGBT people are effective. Unfortunately, transphobia is fashionable and likely profitable. The result is that news media is deliberately normalising anti-trans attitudes,” they said.
The power of media to influence people in formulating an opinion , in all matters of life , makes the Australian Press Council woefully inadequate. An organisation that relies on funding from the very people doing the mischief is not logical.
When we get a decent government this is one of the first things that has to go.. There is very likely some ethical people within APC ,they should be encouraged to work for a new publicly funded organisation that actually has teeth.
Newscorpse – where the truth goes to die
Great that Dr Telfer has pushed back and won. Bullies usually rely on people being too scared to have a go. A victory of principle over slime.
The use of those facing significant health risks as cannon fodder by right wing culture warriors is unconscionable. The only potentially good thing about it is that it demonstrates quite clearly how dishonest, ruthless and unprincipled they are, a good lesson for us all.
When people practicing evidence based medicine while trying also to expand the evidence are pilloried by right wing nutjobs and religious fanatics with no experience or expertise in the area, even if they may have a medical degree, we are in real trouble. The mechanisms to hold this irresponsibility to account are wholly lacking, as can be seen in the sneering response by the Oz, which rather reminds me of a naughty 8 yo caught in the wrong – denial and evasion writ large.
Look at SEGM or Genspect. This is a highly contested and controversial area of medicine, there is no evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of the medical treatments Dr. Telfer promotes. In fact, there is evidence to demonstrate self harm and suicide increase after transition, particularly long term. That the only people who are allowed to have a public opinion on this issue are the specialists practising this medicine is reckless – their livelihoods and reputations are hitched to promoting such practices. We are already in trouble, the rising numbers of desisters and detransitioners, families torn apart, parents demonised and deliberately estranged from their distressed children by gender ideologues is a great scandal in the making. I have no doubt Bernard Lane will be vindicated for his work and there will come a day when we look back on this gender craze with shame and embarrassment that we allowed it to happen.
Looked into those organisations, and they sure seem like attempts to lauder American College of Pediatricians (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/american-college-pediatricians) talking points for an audience that that doesn’t want to be seen to cite them. Pretty concerning to see know homophobic evangelical campaigners like Julie Maxwell and Jennifer Lahl hovering around the groups you name from inception: https://transsafety.network/posts/segm-uncovered/
What do you say about the methods Dr. Telfer employs? What do you say about the absence of evidence? We all know the so-called “progressive left” are championing the medicalisation of these children. Do you have anything else to rebut anything I’ve said except except “conservative”? Which is not true at all, if you actually know who the people are behind Genspect or SEGM.
And if you think this is a left vs right schism, that is woefully simplistic. There are many women from the left, Lesbians, Gays, people of all socio-economic backgrounds and professions now raising the alarm.
Can’t really figure the public interest angle, surely just a bunch of religious nutters and none too bright bogans. Too bad the link to the press council’s adjudication takes one to the News Corp pay wall, which I have no desire to breach, ever.
Treasure the rainbows. They’re a normal part of the scenery.
45 articles. Because the Australian is obsessed with trying to destroy the rights of trans people and does not care a great deal for things like “truth”.
It’s not even ideology. It’s all about confecting outrage (and sales) amongst their chosen demographic of readership – trans people one day, unemployed the next.