Day 39, afternoon – with Helen Clare Belcher.
2 A. Well, I noticed that — I mean, there’s a number of
3 things on the — Mr Mohan was quite insistent that the
4 Sun had mended its ways and no longer abused trans
5 people, yet on 3 January there was an article in the
6 printed Sun with the headline, “Tranosauras”, about
7 a very tall trans woman, simply attributed to “staff
8 reporter”.
9 And yesterday, while he was giving evidence, there’s
10 an article written by Stuart MacDonald up on the
11 Scottish Sun, which is actually still under the Sun’s
12 website. The headline is, “Tranny granny raids three
13 banks”, where it talks actually about somebody who
14 appears to be a con artist and not trans at all, so
15 simply conflating the idea that somebody just dressing
16 up in women’s clothes to commit a crime must therefore
17 be trans in some way and yet still using the pejorative
18 term “tranny” in order to describe that. I struggle to
19 see how that kind of article with that kind of headline
20 is mending their ways.
21 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: Mm.
22 MR JAY: We’ll need to check, but it may well be, I suspect
23 it is the case, that the Scottish Sun has a separate
24 editor.
25 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: I think it does, but the point is
1 made.
2 MR JAY: Yes. The point remains valid.
3 LORD JUSTICE LEVESON: Generally, if not specifically about
4 Mr Mohan. Yes.
5 MR JAY: Your recommendations, Ms Belcher, page 29 under
6 section G.
7 A. The first one is really the point that Lord Leveson has
8 just tried to draw out in terms of enabling vulnerable
9 groups or representatives from those vulnerable groups
10 to be able to make complaints on behalf of individuals.
11 There are a number of articles though in the first part
12 of our submission where there is no individual named and
13 therefore there is no individual under the current code
14 who can complain. When we met with the Press Complaints
15 Commission, the only grounds for complaint on such
16 articles would be on the grounds of accuracy.
17 When people complain on the grounds of accuracy, the
18 PCC tends to then go onto a very rigorous dictionary
19 definition of words, rather than necessarily being able
20 to interpret the underlying meaning of the article.
21 So in those instances, being able to –
22 Trans Media Watch, for example, being able to complain
23 on behalf of the trans and intersex community about such
24 articles would be immensely valuable.
25 Q. Thank you. Protection for the dead. [...]
Elsewhere: full transcript (PDF).
