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Press watchdog rules Herald Sun’s ‘Ban the Books’ article was misleading to readers

A Herald Sun article which implied Victorian councils could ban books based on gender tests misled readers and was not presented fairly, the Australian Press Council has ruled.

The article in question, dated May 21 2018, ran on the front page with the headline ‘Ban the books: Councils’ gender wars to hit kinders, libraries’. The story continued on page two, headed ‘Favourite children’s tales face gender ban’.

It suggested councils were auditing libraries and urging a ban on using the words ‘boy’ and ‘girl’, in order to teach children about gender equitable relationships.

Melbourne City Council, Darebin City Council and Manningham City Council were among the councils responding to new research from the Australian National University, which suggested educators should avoid classifying children based on gender. The research also suggested educators should avoid comments defining what males and females do or should do and avoid using the words ‘boys’ and ‘girls’.

The article from May last year implied councils would undertake a ‘gender ban’ on books

It said the guidelines would result in books like Thomas the Tank Engine, Noddy and Winnie the Pooh being banned for not meeting gender tests.

Following publication, the findings received coverage from a number of online news sites, and was featured in a segment on Seven’s morning show, Sunrise.

The Herald Sun noted Darebin City Council’s material contained a library assessment tool which educators could use to undertake an assessment of books. It said Darebin City Council’s material was an example of what could be introduced by other councils.

While the Herald Sun did not reach out to the Municipal Association of Victoria, it went directly to three major councils for comment. However, the publication would not provide its correspondence with those councils to the Press Council. It said two of the three councils had commentary in the article, while the third did not respond to questions.

The Press Council noted the responses by local councils, but also made note of the Municipal Association of Victoria’s comment published on the day the article appeared, which said: “There will be no book or toy bans.”

It ruled the two headlines and the article went beyond implying a ban of books was possible, and implied councils were proceeding to ban books. It said the information available was not sufficient enough to justify the implication.

The Press Council ruled the newspaper had failed to ensure the material was accurate and not misleading.

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