Press watchdog rules Perth Sunday Times tanning salon investigation was ‘misleading’
News Corp’s Perth paper the Sunday Times has breached Press Council standards for misleading readers around an assertion that tanning operators snubbed or flouted safety laws after a reporter failed to fill out tanning application forms truthfully.
The APC found the Perth paper and its digital counterpart Perth Now did not take the reasonable care required to ensure factual material was accurate and presented with reasonable fairness.
The article detailed a reporter’s claims she was able to making a tanning appointment at three solariums despite having ‘Type 1’ fair skin. According to law, people with ‘Type 1’ skin are banned from using tanning beds.
It was the council’s view the article did not “adequately explain the way in which the reporter’s skin type analysis was arrived at”.
In its ruling the council noted the reporter did not reveal the extent to which she “had misrepresented her self-assessment”.
The Sunday Times defended the article, arguing it raised an important public issue “by demonstrating the inadequacy of the regulations, given that it was easy for the public to misrepresent their skin type”.
The News Corp-owned publication justified its position that safety regulations were snubbed because the onus is placed on the tanning bed operator to do a rigorous assessment of skin type.
In its defence of the reporter not answering questions on the form accurately, it said the operator should have conducted a proper assessment given the reporter is “noticeably fair skinned”.
The APC said while the articles “could have highlighted deficiencies in the regulations” they instead alleged the operators were flouting them.
“The omission to inform readers that the assertions operators “snub” or “blatantly flout” safety laws was predicated on forms that were filled out untruthfully by the reporter was unfair and significantly misleading. Accordingly, the Council upholds the complaint,” the adjudication read.
Miranda Ward
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
Linkedin