THE Daily Record has been rapped by the Press Complaints Commission over a story it published about the celebrity, X Factor judge and singer, Dannii Minogue.
It follows a story published on the ninth of last month, under the headline, ‘X Factor Dannii is Pregnant’, which resulted in Ms Minogue complaining under Clause 3 (Privacy) of the PCC’s Editors’ Code of Practice.
Says the PCC: “The article reported that Ms Minogue was expecting a baby with her boyfriend, Kris Smith.
“The complainant’s representative said that she had not yet had her 12-week scan at the time of publication, and the newspaper had known this. Nonetheless, it had gone ahead to publish the story which represented a gross intrusion into her private life.”
The article also appeared in the Record’s sister title, the Daily Mirror, which was also rebuked.
Says the Commission, in the context of its previous cases: “As a matter of common sense, newspapers and magazines should not reveal news of an individual’s pregnancy without consent before the 12-week scan, unless the information is known to such an extent that it would be perverse not to refer to it.”
This is because a scan at this stage of a pregnancy can reveal complications relating to the health of the baby and the viability of the pregnancy.
The paper is understood to have tried to defend itself on the ground that the information was already in the public domain, having appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.
But the PPC’s view of the SMH’s coverage was that it was speculative, not fact. It therefore upheld Minogue’s complaint.
The paper has published an apology.
