The Australian Press Council has ruled that Brisbane’s Courier Mail coverage of the death of trans-woman Mayang Prasetyo was gratuitous.
The newspaper came under fire in October last year when it reported on the murder of Prasetyo by her partner Marcus Volke.
The newspaper ran the story under the headline ‘Monster Chef and the SheMale’. The newspaper described Prasetyo as a “ladyboy”. The newspaper was criticised by readers and the wider public for it’s choice of language and it’s decision to publish a picture of the murder victim in a bikini.
The Courier Mail defended it’s choice of language arguing that the terms were widely used in Asia and highlighted that Prasetyo had used the terms herself when advertising her services as a sex worker.
In making its ruling the Australian Press Council said the Courier Mail had given unnecessary focus to the murder victims work as a sex worker.
“The Council considers that the prominent treatment given to the victim’s gender, and the repetitive detail of her sex work, was gratuitous and contributed to the substantial offence caused by the terminology used to describe the murder victim,” the APC said in a statement.
The Press Council said that the focus on Prasetyo’s employment as sex worker was unwarranted.
“This was not sufficiently warranted in the public interest. For the same reasons, Ms Prasetyo’s death was presented in a manner that was not reasonably fair and balanced.”
The APC found that the Courier Mail had breached standards relating to “reasonable fairness and balance” and that “writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts.”
The APC also ruled that the paper had breached a standard that ensures editorial does not cause or contribute to “offence, distress or prejudice”.
The council acknowledged that the newspaper had apologised for it’s coverage and allowed critics of its coverage to be heard.
