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A report in the Nationalist about alleged “body shaming” at a school in Carlow, which was based on inaccurate claims on social media, has been criticised by the Press Ombudsman.
Presentation College Carlow was at the centre of a social media storm last year caused by false allegations that female students at the school had been told not to wear clothing that made male teachers uncomfortable.
The false claims on social media led to an online petition against “sexism against female students” which was signed by thousands of people.
The principal of the school, Ray Murray, went on national radio to try to point out that what was being claimed on social media was incorrect.
What in fact had happened was that a reminder to students about the rules on uniforms, in the context of changes governing the wearing of training gear on PE days, had led to false rumours that the motivation for the reminder was discomfort among male staff.
The Press Ombudsman has now upheld a complaint by Mr Murray about a report published in the Nationalist in November 2020, which appeared under the headline: Anger at “body shaming” of girls in Carlow school.
The sub-head on the article read: Teenage girls told not to wear tight clothing as it made teachers “uncomfortable”.
Mr Murray, in his complaint, said it was completely untrue to say that teenage girls in the school had been told not to wear tight clothing because it made teachers uncomfortable.
He also said it was untrue that female students had been told not to wear tight leggings, or to roll up their skirts too short, or to tighten their jumpers, as this was too revealing of their body shape.
Facebook petition
According to a statement from the Press Council, the editor of the Nationalist said it had become aware of the petition posted on Facebook, and of online comments by parents, some of whom had been interviewed.
The editor said it had tried to get a response for the school, had offered a right of reply, and stood over what it had reported.
The Nationalist also said that had the school responded, “this complaint might never have arisen,” according to the Press Council statement.
Mr Murray said the school had declined to comment as it did not want to “provide fuel for the fire of a non-story frenzy circulating on social media”.
The Ombudsman decided the Nationalist had breached Principle 1 of the Code of Practice of the Press Council of Ireland, which concerns truth and accuracy.
The Ombudsman made a similar finding in relation to Principle 2, which concerns distinguishing between fact and comment.
A complaint that Principle 4, which concerns respect for rights, had been breached, was not upheld.
The editor of the Nationalist appealed the two critical findings to the Press Council, but they were upheld, according to the Press Council statement.
The school’s board of management said it welcomed the findings and wanted to thank those who had stood by the school during a difficult time.