Daily Telegraph censured over Philip Seymour Hoffman headline ‘Kids grieve for junkie actor dad’ headline
The Australian Press Council (APC) has ruled News Corp tabloid The Daily Telegraph broke its standards of practice by running the headline “Kids grieve for junkie dad” on a story about the death of Hollywood actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in February.
The APC rejected the Telegraph’s argument that the word “junkie” was not a pejorative term, but one which is used to describe someone addicted to hard drugs more generally, finding the headline which was published in the hours after the discovery of Seymour Hoffman’s death from an apparent drug overdose and was accompanied by a photograph of the actor with his three young children and an inset of the street outside the family’s apartment, was a serious breach of its Standards of Practice.
Telegraph Deputy managing editor Tony Thomas told Mumbrella the article had been posted early in the morning and “changed within the hour” after a review to ‘Seymour Hoffman battled heroin in rehab’.
The headline and image, also included the standfirst “Philip Seymour Hoffman always kept his children out of the spotlight, but Cooper, Willa and Tallulah, pictured last April, will be struggling to understand how he died in the bathroom of his New York apartment, inset, with a hypodermic needle still in his arm” attracted media and social media comment before it was removed.
Surely “Hoffman passes away” would have been a sufficient headline? Why must everything be dramatised? There was a study that showed that shock-factor no longer has the same impact that it once did, so can we please go back to straightforward headlines without all the drama!
Ruling? What do they rule exactly? Why does Mumbrella bother reporting on what the Press Council decides? Not even the publication in question will give a toss.
@ Suzy:
Why “passes away”? What did he pass? Where did he go away to?
What about Seymour Hoffman Dead? if you want [quote]”straightforward headlines without all the drama” [unquote]
General Opinion:
His drug addiction, and the publicised cause of his death were both news worthy and important general information, hardly dramatic.
I believe that the photographic involvement of the children was in bad taste, as was the associated questions regarding their assumed inability to understand his death. It is wrong in such cases to state boldly that which can so easily be read between the lines.
Suzy, “passes away” has to be the lamest euphemism in history. Why do people fear/object to using the words dead/died? That’s what happens when you’re not alive – you’re dead. The only thing I want to pass is wind.
“The APC disagreed and found the word “junkie” is widely regarded as a broader and more pejorative term than a neutral description of someone who is addicted to heroin or other illegal drugs.”
This can only be interpreted to suggest that the word “junkie” could be used to describe a dero addicted to drugs, but not an “artiste.” He was a junkie, and he died. End of story.