Tasmania Newspaper Editor Sacked Over Fake Anti-Trans Letter
Image: Mark Westfield. Image: Linkedin
Launceston’s leading newspaper The Examiner sacked its editor Mark Westfield over the publication of a fake anti-trans letter.
Westfield was appointed editor in January 2023. He was previously campaign manager and media adviser to failed Warringah Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, who had to delete and apologise for her anti-LGBTQI posts before the federal elections.
On March 7, 2023, The Examiner printed a transphobic letter from a reader falsely claiming that a “man” undressed in front of children in the female change rooms at the Launceston Leisure and Aquatic Centre.
The letter titled ‘Girls getting changed, then walks in a man’ was published under the ‘Letter to the Editor’ section.
The aquatic centre and the City of Launceston questioned its veracity and said that no such incident had happened, forcing the newspaper to apologise and retract the letter.
Editor Says He Was Misled
The publication claimed that it had been “misled” and after inquiries with the letter writer there were “concerns that the letter contained incorrect information.”
Westfield told ABC that he took full responsibility for the publication of the letter and he had not checked the claims made as he had no time.
“This person who claimed to have walked in was clearly a trans person. This person claimed to be upset about it… I spoke to the writer. I think she made it up. She wasn’t very convincing. I asked her what happened, to give me some detail, a time, date, but she wouldn’t,” Westfield told ABC.
The ABC reported that Westfield had confirmed that he had parted ways with the newspaper.
Repairing The Damage
LGBTQI advocacy group said that it was working with The Examiner to repair the damage from the fake anti-trans letter. The letter had been shared across social media by anti-trans groups.
Equality Tasmania spokesperson, Rose Boccalatte said that Westfield’s exit was welcome, but more needs to be done by the publication.
“The impact of the letter on trans and gender diverse communities hasn’t been acknowledged,” Boccalatte said in a statement.
“The letter has caused a lot of hurt because it insinuated there is an inherent danger with trans women using women’s facilities and because it was fabricated. What we’d really like to see from The Examiner is an acknowledgement of the hurt caused by the letter,” added Boccalatte.
