« Boscawen appeal fails | Main | Chris not Christians »
Ethics inquiry into 13-year-old dad story
By Steven | February 19, 2009
The UK’s Press Complaints Commission is looking into the ethics of The Sun’s story about a 13-year-old fathering a child. On what grounds, you ask? In NZ, the issue might be the child’s privacy (can a boy really consent to a story like that?) or whether the paper had “particular care and consideration for reporting on and about children and young people”. Not there. It’s whether he or his parents should have been paid for the story… that’s not allowed if the children’s welfare is involved (as it surely is here) unless publication is in the child’s interests. Interestingly, the story I’ve linked to seems to conflate the interests of the child with the public interest. Don’t know what’s going on there.
Topics: Media ethics, Press Council | Comments Off on Ethics inquiry into 13-year-old dad story