Bauer has put “processes in place” around internationally syndicated content after more examples of international stories being presented as local content came to light, including the address of an English woman telling the tale of her “crooked cop” husband being further changed for the New Zealand market.
On Friday Mumbrella revealed a story in Take 5 by Lisa Andrew had her home address changed from Redruth, Cornwall, to Redfern, NSW. At the time Bauer blamed it on a typographical “error”, but it has emerged the same story in Bauer’s Lucky Break magazine in New Zealand described her as being from Christchurch. Both titles are under the purview of real-life weeklies editor-in-chief Paul Merrill.
In this week’s Take 5 Sara Westle, the source of the story ‘She’s keeping a deadly secret’, is said to be from Melton, Victoria, rather than her actual home of Leicester in the midlands of England.
And the story ‘Darl it’s our Honeymoon’, said to be about Louise Blair, 25, of Brisbane, has been adapted from an exclusive story in British tabloid The Sun, and is understood to originate from Scotland.
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The revelations throw further shadows over the way Bauer handles internationally syndicated content, after the group said it would look to share more stories from around the world, with journalism academic David McKnight telling Mumbrella the original “crooked cop” article was “one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen in journalism”.
Bauer Media Group says that article had originally appeared in The Daily Mail and was purchased via a “syndication service”.
However it is not the only article from the publisher to have certain facts altered from the original story.
Lucky Break, NZ
Take5 said the victim was from NSW
Take 5 also published a photograph of 100-year-old Daisy Dunnett in the article “My secret is my Toyboy” showing her holding a copy of Take 5, in place of her birthday telegram from the Queen.
A spokeswoman for Bauer Media Group said: “There have clearly been some errors and we now have processes in place to make sure it won’t happen again. Editorial excellence is paramount to Bauer Media across all titles and platforms.”