OPINION: Christopher Dore, editor of The Courier Mail, is refusing take phone calls following outrage at his 'Monster Chef And The She Male' headline on the front page of yesterday's edition, according to Fairfax Media.
The wider community has recoiled at the newspaper's choice of image and pejorative headline towards a dead trans-gender person. Mayang Pratesyo was killed by her boyfriend Marcus Volke, who then cooked portions of her body.
Today, all eyes were on Queensland's only metropolitan masthead, looking for a statement befitting all of: the title's standing in the community, a demonstration it really understood the issues (other than its own commercial ones), and the fibre to apologise in the face of a gross error of judgement. None of those things were forthcoming.
Incredibly, The Courier Mail chose to compound its error with a statement that read, in part:
"Many believe that yesterday we presented Mayang's story in a way that was disrespectful to her memory. The Courier Mail had no intention of diminishing the value of Mayang's life or to add to the grief being felt by her family."
Below: The Courier-Mail has issued a non-apology for this headline.
This is an extraordinary statement when considered in conjunction with the front cover image in question (shown left). Mr Dore and The Courier Mail had one shot at apologising properly — and they blew it.Any apology following a blunder (ignorance, cheap shot, neanderthal behaviour: take your pick) such as this will always be denigrated, but none so much as a disingenuous squibbing, such as that delivered here.
UPDATE: 9th October, 2014
News Corporation has now modified its behaviour in subsequent reporting. Images of Mayang Pratesyo are less revealing, and wondrously, the writers have seen fit not to refer to her as a 'she male'. They might be painfully, arrogantly and even wilfully slow, but they get there in the end. We await the apology...
