‘Unwarranted emphasis’: watchdog slams Daily Telegraph’s trans manslaughter victim coverage

The Daily Telegraph made repeated references to a manslaughter victim’s gender identity where it wasn’t relevant on balance, running the risk of inviting prejudice against transgender people, the Australian Press Council has ruled.

The Sydney tabloid was found to be in breach of the council’s standards of practice in an adjudication released Wednesday, which found early reporting on the manslaughter of Mhelody Polan Bruno by her partner, published in early 2020, had fallen afoul of two general principles.

In the first instance, the Tele was found to have failed to ensure “factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance” and that a writer’s opinion isn’t based on inaccurate material or the omission of key facts. In the second, it was found guilty of not taking reasonable steps to avoid causing or contributing to “offence, distress or prejudice, or a substantial risk to health or safety” unless it was in the public interest to do so.

The report was first published by NewsLocal’s The Wagga News and carried by The Daily Telegraph on March 11, 2020. Bruno’s gender status is mentioned twice throughout what was framed as a straight report of an early court appearance of former Royal Australian Air Force corporal Rian Ross Toyer, who at the time stood accused of strangling Bruno to death.

In response to complaints levelled against the paper as a result of the report, The Daily Telegraph argued that reporting Bruno’s gender status at the time was in the public interest, even though it hadn’t been the subject of court material until 12 months later, when the court referenced Bruno’s gender in a sentencing judgement so as to get Bruno’s pronouns correct.

“The council notes that there was no evidence provided that stated or implied that, during the hearing of the matter, the victim’s transgender status was raised as a contributing factor to her manslaughter,” the Press Council wrote.

“The council has repeatedly stated over a long period that publications should exercise great care to not place unwarranted emphasis on characteristics of individuals such as gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, nationality, country of origin, marital status, disability, illness, or age.”

In failing to do so, the Press Council found the paper had failed to take reasonable steps to present the reporting in a fair and balanced way, absent any justification for a public interest argument.

The adjudication went on to note that the “repeated references” to Bruno’s gender in the reporting might have led some readers to conclude that it was a “characteristic” that motivated Toyer to take her life and was either the cause of, or a factor in, her death.

“This could contribute to substantial prejudice against transgender people,” the Press Council wrote.

“The council considers that in prominently identifying the woman as transgender in the sub-headline the publication failed to take reasonable steps to avoid contributing to substantial prejudice and that there was no sufficient public interest justifying it doing so.”