News Corp publication in breach of press standards after sensationalist murder coverage
The Australian Press Council has ruled that Rupert Murdoch’s Brisbane tabloid has breached press standards in its coverage of murder victim Mayang Prasetyo in October.
The Courier Mail’s front page story “Monster Chef and the She Male” featuring a photograph of Mayang Prasetyo in a bikini was deemed offensive by the press council.
Prasetyo, who was alleged to have been killed and dismembered by her husband, was described in the newspaper as a “she male”, “a prostitute” and a “hooker wife.”
The coverage of the murder continued on page four and five with the headlines “Ladyboy and the butcher” and “Killed and cooked trans woman was high-class sex worker”. More photographs of the Indonesian victim included one of her on an “escort website” and one in a white swimsuit.
The press council ruled that the News Corp publication failed to uphold two key standards, the requirement that reports be fair and balanced and that they avoid causing distress or prejudice.
In decision the council found the newspaper in breach of its standards in relation to general principles 3 and 6 and said that “the prominent treatment given to the victim’s gender, and the repetitive detail of her sex work, was gratuitous and contributed to the substantial offence caused by the terminology used to describe the murder victim.”
It added that this was “not sufficiently warranted in the public interest” and was “presented in a manner that was not reasonably fair and balanced.”
The paper addressed criticism from the public and transgender community with a second report which said the “victim’s memory should be valued” and that they “had no intention of diminishing the value of Mayang’s life, or to add to the grief being felt by her family.”
The full adjudication is available here.