SAVE WOMEN’S SPORT AUSTRALASIA AGAINST THE NZ HERALD
Case Number: 3558
Council Meeting: 21 October 2024
Decision: No Grounds to Proceed
Publication: New Zealand Herald
Principle:
Accuracy, Fairness and Balance
Discrimination and Diversity
Ruling Categories: Gender
- The NZ Herald published an editorial on the 14th September 2024, headlined How transgender rights could become a political football.
- The editorial discussed the contentious issue of transgender participation in sports.
- It referred to a letter from a group of former athletes and sports administrators who asked the Minister of Sport and Recreation to review Government’s position on the issue and expressed the view that:
- “Young transgender people are among the most vulnerable in our society. If we believe the health benefits, joy and sense of common purpose that community sport instils are worth nurturing, we ought to be glad to see these young people taking part.
- “In some contact sports there is a reasonable discussion to be had about safety at the highest level – the sporting bodies involved and the people taking part in those sports are the ones best placed to guide that discussion and set their own protocols.
- Save Women’s Sport Australasia complained the editorial wrongly “asserts our lobbying will see less transgender people compete in community sport. Even opinion pieces need to be based on fact, and there simply isn’t any to support the assertions that have been made.”
- The NZ Herald said its editorial made no reference to Save Women’s Sport Australia or its lobbying.
- “You assert the editorial contains ‘tired inaccuracies and misinformation’, but you have not identified any specific factual error.
- “While we appreciate that you may not agree with the editorial this does not make it inaccurate.
- “As the Media Council has routinely ruled, readers do not have the right to not be offended by an Opinion article and that no one is forcing a reader to read the article, or indeed this newspaper.”
- The Media Council can see no argument for supporting the complaint under Principle (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance and (7) Discrimination and Diversity.
- Save Women’s Sport Australasia clearly disagrees with the editorial but has not detailed any factual errors.
- Nor has it made a case under Principle (7) which states:
- “Issues of gender, religion, minority groups, sexual orientation, age, race, colour of physical or mental disability are legitimate subjects for discussion where they are relevant and in the public interest, and publications may report and express opinions in these areas.”
- The editorial setting out the NZ Herald’s view on the subject was clearly an expression of opinion that it was entitled to publish.
- There were no grounds to proceed.