SMH ‘unreservedly apologises’ for publishing Paul Sheehan Middle Eastern gang rape column
The Sydney Morning Herald has issued an apology a week after printing a column by Paul Sheehan about an alleged gang rape in Sydney which he later acknowledged had not been justified.
On Thursday Sheehan penned a column admitting his original claims had been flawed
In the original column, which was corrected on Wednesday, Sheehan quoted alleged victim “Louise” as using the term “MERC – Middle Eastern raping c—s”, included explicit details of the humiliating ordeal the woman was alleged to have experienced, as well as allegations NSW Police failed to act on the claims.
Today’s apology from the Fairfax paper acknowledges “aspersions” cast against the Middle Eastern Community and police, and ends with the line: “The Herald sincerely regrets the hurt and distress this report caused to these groups, and unreservedly apologises.”
Mumbrella understands there has also been at least one complaint about the column lodged with the Australian Press Council.
While the complaint does not indicate an investigation will take place, Mumbrella understands if one does occur that Sheehan’s follow-up column will be taken into consideration.
In a subsequent column on Thursday, Sheehan admitted he should not have penned the original article due to a lack of evidence, admitting it has since emerged that the woman made similar claims of rape at rallies organised by the radical anti-Islam group Reclaim Australia.
He wrote: “I had not considered the possibility that her story had been carefully constructed on a foundation of embellishments, false memories and fabrications.”
While he admitted he owed certain groups, including the police, an apology the column stopped short of issuing one.
Jenna Price, a columnist for Fairfax Media’s The Canberra Times and Daily Life, has called on Sheehan to apologise to sexual assault survivors, the Muslim community and Fairfax Media readers.
She wrote: “To me, however, he mostly owes readers an apology. Not just for this story but for all the others where he has demeaned and degraded members of the Muslim community. I did a quick check of Sheehan’s work over the last year. More than 30 mentions of Islam or Muslims in 30 different stories and there is nearly always a faint air of menace.”
Fairfax has not yet responded to Mumbrella’s questions over how the column came to be published.
The SMH apology in full:
In last Monday’s paper, the Herald reported the details of an alleged sexual assault under the headline “The horrifying untold story of Louise“.
A subsequent column printed in last Thursday’s edition, “The story of Louise: why the police have no case to answer, but I do“, acknowledged key elements of the original story were unable to be substantiated.
The original story, which has been corrected, included aspersions against the Middle Eastern community and raised untested allegations of inaction against the NSW Police.
The Herald sincerely regrets the hurt and distress this report caused to these groups, and unreservedly apologises.
Miranda Ward and Alex Hayes
It’s great to see someone like Paul who, when a young child, decides on what they want to do when they grow up, sticks to their plan and succeeds!
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That’s not an apology. Sheehan has not apologised. The herald and Sheehan have yet to acknowledge that they published fiction as fact and malicious, sectarian abuse as news. Sheehan refers to embellishments. Is there evidence if any kind that his violent and shocking diatribe was in any way based on a single fact?
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How on earth can Sheehan keep his job after this? Mike Carlton, basically the SMH’s left-wing counterbalance to Sheehan, was stood down for 6 weeks (and then quit in protest) for a far lesser transgression.
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Sheehan has lost all credibility and the SMH will too if it continues to publish his copy. Carlton got sacked for far less.
Is there one standard for those writing from the left and another writing from the right?
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This is the award-winning journalism that Fairfax tells us is worth paying 50c a day for. The only award this will win is Worst Journalism of 2016.
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@ Lindsay.
Mike Carlton WAS not sacked. He resigned. GOT it. He FUCKING RESIGNEDDDDDD.
It’s Sheehan and his fancy water crap con that shoud be sacked.
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Ok Ken, obviously I was wrong about the sacking bit, but it’s probably reasonable to say, he was made to feel very unwelcome. Not by the readers but by those running Fairfax. And you are right we writing “It’s Sheehan and his fancy water crap con that shoud be sacked.”
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I feel sad that such a respected long-term career journalist and opinion piece writer has made such a serious mistake. I think Paul’s apology was heartfelt. I think, however, that his sloppy journalism and hurtful article – which will lead to even more racial hatred – needs a response. Please resign Paul.
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Paul Sheehan is agenda driven – he has a personal bias on anything to do with muslims, rape and immigration.
The only surprise here is that his passion for his agenda override his professional judgement.
It would appear he was surprised that anyone in the public could or would pick the story apart.
Little wonder the ‘average person’ is turning off TV, not buying news in print, turning off radio – and instead paying more attention to reality shows or niche subjects of interest.
The public, in growing numbers, simply do not trust the ‘media’ any more. And with ‘spermaholic’ stories getting presented as factual – is there any surprise?
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The SMH made a huge mistake in publishing Paul’s article. It has half corrected the error. The apology is very good – hopefully it assists the muslim community to forgive the paper. The half that is missing is sacking Paul Sheehan. His article demonstrates that he holds such a strong bias against a certain group of Australians that he is prepared to throw standard journalist procedures out the window.
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The death of subs and lack of effective and powerful oversight of newspaper demagogues also have their parts to play. The story didn’t meet the most basic checks and balances that would be demanded of a serious paper of record. Sheehan should resign or be sacked. The editorial management might also take pause to consider how viable and sustainable their positions are considering they were asleep on watch.
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