Has the Australian Press Council Been Captured? Quillette Cetera Episode 15
Claire's reporting on trans issues gets her into hot water with the Australian Press Council.
In this episode, Claire and I discuss a complaint lodged with the Australian Press Council concerning one of Claire's articles in The Australian. In her piece, Claire compares Australia's method of treating children with gender dysphoria to Finland's more nuanced approach, which neither affirms nor denies gender identities.
The article evidently ruffled some activist feathers, and not for the first time. This is not the first time Claire's reporting on trans issues has wound up in a report to the Press Council. It's something Australian journalist and Quillette contributor Bernard Lane is also no stranger to.
A complaint by Australia's high-profile gender doctor Michelle Telfer has been partly upheld. Not a surprise. I predicted two years ago that a new, activist guideline for journos reporting trans issues would make it even harder to apply normal scrutiny. 1/https://t.co/roEdDUc69I pic.twitter.com/qlTc6zJD29
— Bernard Lane (@Bernard_Lane) September 3, 2021
This raises the question: Has the Australian Press Council been influenced by trans advocacy groups like GLAAD?
Towards the end of the episode, we change path to examine the widespread tendency among both the Left and Right to romanticize the past. We argue that this inclination is not only irrational but can be countered by a thoughtful reading of history.
Stay tuned for upcoming interviews with Quillette contributor Holly Lawford-Smith, Australian journalist and mother of four Virginia Tapscott, and sex researchers Rob Brooks and William Costello.
