Australian news site wrongly claimed pregnant woman infected wedding guests with coronavirus - iMediaEthics

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The Australian news site News.com.au reported a pregnant woman infected others with coronavirus at a wedding, when in fact she was infected by another guest.

In an apology atop its article about the woman’s coronavirus illness, News.com.au wrote, “An article published on news.com.au on Monday April 20, incorrectly stated that Ms Sally Hawach unknowingly infected other guests with coronavirus at a wedding. That was incorrect. Ms Hawach attended the wedding but caught the virus from another guest. We apologise to Ms Hawach for the error and to the bride and groom and guests for any distress this may have caused.”

According to the News.com.au article, the pregnant guest, Sally Hawach, was one of 39 people who contracted coronavirus at a wedding in March in Australia.

Hawach told iMediaEthics by e-mail, “I am satisfied with the apology now but I wasn’t impressed. The story was not just incredible in every way it was repeated in media. My children and I also received some awful trolling as a result. There was so much completely false and misleading information in such sensationalised journalism. In fact I haven’t even been overseas for some years.”

The original April 3 article was headlined, “‘Pregnant woman infects 39 people with coronavirus at wedding,'” according to Australian media news website Mumbrella.

News Corp Australia, owners of News.com.au, declined to comment to iMediaEthics.

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Australian news site wrongly claimed pregnant woman infected wedding guests with coronavirus

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