MEDIA WATCH |

When Will Daily Mail Rein in Bigot/Writer Jacques Peterson?

Does DailyMail.com have any journalistic standards at all, or is it just the Wild West in your newsroom, with every reporter governed only by his freak whims that day?

May 22, 2024

Barclay Crawford
Executive Editor
DailyMail.com

Dear Mr. Crawford,

We write regarding Daily Mail’s consistently bigoted anti-Scientology coverage.

You may be familiar with the IPSO Editors’ Code of Practice. We say “may be familiar” because you subscribe to it, but we can find no evidence you follow it.

In its “Discrimination” section, for example, the Code admonishes that “the press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual’s… religion” and that an individual’s religion “must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.”

Your reporters ignore these principles like it is their job—most recently Daily Mail “Assistant Show Business Editor” Jacques Peterson, who was caught last month in an ethical scandal and responded like the bigoted adolescent he apparently is. (Note: Peterson has since changed his X handle yet again to further flee accountability, marking the third such change.)

As is obvious to anyone who does not have a Daily Mail email address, Peterson flouts every standard of journalism with impunity.

Which begs the question: Do you exercise any oversight of your DailyMail.com reporters, Mr. Crawford?

To facilitate, we’ve created a series of multiple-choice questions:

Does DailyMail.com have any journalistic standards at all, or is it just the Wild West in your newsroom, with every reporter governed only by his freak whims that day? (A) We have no standards at all. Yes, it is the Wild West at DailyMail.com. (B) We have standards. Peterson ignores them because he has figured out that we ignore them.
What do you intend to do about it? (A) Nothing, we’re just paying our readers lip service. (B) We’re actually going to do something about this travesty of a reporter, who we have been paying to spew hate and gaslight readers.

As you no doubt know, ours is a global religion with millions of followers from all walks of life.

Like every other religion, we expect media to treat our members with fairness, decency and journalistic ethics—not the bigotry that has become a calling card for the Daily Mail.

Now that the above has been brought to your attention, we look forward to seeing your coverage reform.

Regards,

STAND League
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