Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 27, 2006
Riaan Wolmarans

The GLA issued a statement claiming that it had recruited more than 100 gay men to donate blood to the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) without disclosing their sexual history -- and that at least one of the men had Aids.

The Saturday Star reported it under the headline "Gays launch blood war". The report was criticised by gay organisations and activists for reporting the GLA's claims as fact without mentioning the alliance's pariah status in the gay community (some refer to it as "one man with a fax machine").

A complaint was made to the Office of the Press Ombudsman by Ian McMahon, chairperson of Cape Town Pride, who charged the Saturday Star performed no background checks on the GLA before publication.

Saturday Star editor Brendan Seery conceded that the GLA may have exaggerated some of its claims, but maintained that critics of the GLA have been unable to prove their claims of it being one person with a fax machine.

"We have dealt with the organisation before and are aware of the allegations (note I say allegations) levelled against it. As a way of providing some balance we did quote the Triangle Project in our story," Seery said, adding that the Saturday Star did all that was possible on the Friday afternoon before publication to check and verify that donations of blood had taken place, given the time constraints. It contacted the South African National Blood Service, which found it difficult at the time to check the veracity of the GLA claims.

The Triangle Project is an organisation challenging homophobia and discrimination against and within the gay and lesbian community.

"In these times of widespread scams, hoaxes, computer hackers, fraudulent e-mails and other calls on the general public to suspend its critical faculties, it is essential for a newspaper to question the credentials of informants and the validity of claims they make," said the ombudsman's ruling, issued on Friday.

The ombudsman said failure to do so can have serious consequences, "equivalent to shouting 'Fire' in a crowded cinema". The rules of ethical professional practice place an obligation on newspapers to check and corroborate information in order to achieve the aim of truthful, accurate and fair reporting.

"It is true that any threat to the integrity of the blood-transfusion service is a serious matter of general public interest and should be published. But that does not mean it can be done without checking and verifying the nature and extent of the threat and the capacity of those making it to carry it out," said the ruling. "The manner and tone of publication are also important. The public should be given information which would enable it to make its own judgment of how serious the threat is."

The ombudsman said the Saturday Star's report was written in a way that conveyed the impression that it was factually accurate: the headline and first three paragraphs were statements of fact without attribution to anyone and "leaves the impression that the Saturday Star is sure of those facts".

"When the representatives of the blood-transfusion service and the Triangle Project are quoted, nothing is included about their doubts about the GLA's claims or its credentials. That leaves the readers with the impression that there may be blood in the transfusion service that came from people who are HIV-positive," the ruling continued.

"That does not square with the Saturday Star's acceptance that the GLA may have exaggerated some of its claims and of its awareness of the allegations against the GLA by other gay and lesbian organisations."

The ombudsman concluded that the Saturday Star contravened paragraphs 1.3 and 1.4 of the Press Code, which say, among other things, that "only what may reasonably be true having regard to the sources of the news may be presented as facts" and that "where there is reason to doubt the accuracy of a report and it is practicable to verify the accuracy thereof, it shall be verified. Where it has not been practicable to verify the accuracy of a report, this shall be mentioned in such report."

"I believe we had a duty to inform our readers about what was possibly a serious threat to the integrity of the blood transfusion system," said Seery, "and, while the GLA's claims may have been exaggerated, the publication of the story has generated a vital debate on the issues of whether gay blood donors should be discriminated against and there merits of legitimate pretext.

"Our editorial comment emphasised that the GLA had been questioned and that it did not represent the gay and lesbian community as a whole."

The Saturday Star was ordered to publish a statement about its contravention of the press code "with appropriate prominence" in its next issue.

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