Tele apologises for publishing school details of wealthy schoolkids

The Daily Telegraph has apologised unreservedly for a story which named the children of a government minister, a media mogul, multi-millionnaire businessmen and a high profile surgeon and identified the school they all attend.

In the original article, published by The Tele on Thursday, the private school was named, along with the children.

As well as raising potentially security risks, the story appeared to come close to flouting the Australian Press Council’s principles over privacy. They include: “Public figures necessarily sacrifice their right to privacy, where public scrutiny is in the public interest. However, public figures do not forfeit their right to privacy altogether. Intrusion into their right to privacy must be related to their public duties or activities.”

In Saturday’s apology, The Tele stated: “It was inappropriate to publish certain details about (name of school omitted by Mumbrella) in an article that appeared in Sydney Confidential earlier this week.   

“We regret any distress the publishing of these details caused to some parents and the school, and we apologise unreservedly.”

A spokesman for the APC told Mumbrella that it had played an informal role in the school reaching an agreement with The Tele, which had also seen the story removed from the newspaper’s website, but the wording of the apology was negotiated directly between the newspaper and the school.

The Tele has been invited to comment.