IN THE SATURDAY SUN of May 21, 2016, in the Pudding & Souse gossip column, under the headline ‘Gentleman’ gets taste of male medicine, we published an article that insinuated that a lesbian was raped by a man while she was under the influence of alcohol.
Our treatment of this matter has offended right thinking members of our community.
It is now clear to us that this story fell very short of the standard of taste, decency and sensitivity our readers quite correctly expect from Nation publications, and contravenes our own statement of editorial principles.
Rape, whether or not the victim is identified, is not to be treated in a flippant or amusing manner. Gloating over it, by all standards of decency, is repugnant and has no place on any newspaper’s pages.
This week’s public outcry has provided an opportunity for us to urgently review the treatment of such columns and to rigidly enforce the absolute need for practitioners to be copiously sensitive at all times.
The circle of trust between the public and us is made complete by our acceptance of responsibility and accountability for all of our actions in the exercise of the freedoms granted to the media.
Therefore, on behalf of the entire Nation newspaper family, we unreservedly apologise for the publication of this highly offensive item.
Roy R. Morris — Editor-In-Chief
Tim Slinger — Associate Managing Editor
Eric Smith — Associate Managing Editor
Carol Martindale — Publication Editor
