The Daily Mail denounced by APC for article about alleged transgender criminal
The Daily Mail has been lambasted for failing to take reasonable steps to avoid contributing to prejudice and offence throughout an article about a transgender woman.
The article about the 24-year-old woman, Evie Amati, who is accused of stabbing two people with an axe at 7-Eleven, included superfluous images, personal Facebook comments and details of her partner, accompanied by images of her sister, mother and an unidentified man, according to the Australian Press Council.
‘Transgender woman, 24, accused of bludgeoning two innocent people with an axe at 7-Eleven was born as a boy named Karl – but had a sex change two years ago in Thailand to become Evie‘, was published by the Daily Mail Australia on January 10 this year.
The Australian Press Council said the article had “no sufficient public interest justifying this level of detail and in any case, the faces of the woman’s friends and family could have been pixilated in the photographs”.
It was concluded The Daily Mail could have taken reasonable steps to “avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, or risk to health or safety”.
The article did not however inaccurately publish any information about the woman’s background as the information was obtained from her public Facebook page, the investigation found.
Due to the information available on Amati’s Facebook, the APC said although it was concerned about the numerous references to her transgender status, The Daily Mail took “reasonable steps to report the factual material with fairness and balance”.
The Council stated there is a need for “caution and sensitivity” when reporting on matters including transgender issues, but The Daily Mail didn’t breach any principles when referencing Amati’s transgender status due to the nature of the crime she allegedly committed.
“While the Council was concerned about the extensive material in the article about her transgender status, given the nature of the alleged crime and information about the drugs being taken by the woman, the publication did not breach General Principle 6 in this respect,” the Council stated.
The Daily Mail Australia has been approached for comment.
Abigail Dawson was Mumbrella's senior content journalist covering event content. She left Mumbrella to move into an agency role in 2020.
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