However, she has negated some of her privacy by virtue of her being a public figure. And as I understand it, one particular personal choice has been on public record for some time (even though it’s not on her wiki page, curious selective editing that) so , ethically it wouldn’t be considered an intrusion into her privacy as she has admitted to it previously and a good number of people in media and advertising know about it .

And while I disagree with the response against Kosmo! (the article wasn’t salacious, it wasn’t malicious and it wasn’t gossipy which for Kosmo! is quite an achievement to be honest), I agree with one possible consequence highlighted by Jacqueline in her article .

“they could potentially jeopardise Yasmin’s burial and her family’s rights in the eyes of the state.”

All the self-righteous media and advertising people are jumping on the wrong ethical bandwagon, doing a disservice to the beleaguered transgender community and to Malaysians as a whole. They should point out that due to the repressive tendencies of the Malaysian government towards its Muslim subjects’ personal choices and Malaysian society’s discriminatory outlook against transgenders, queers and heck, anything we find strange and different, we would rather not see that factoid about Yasmin in print.

It’s funny how everyone is trying to be a hero for Yasmin. Her family didn’t make noise, Yasmin herself when she was alive embraced her sexuality and was always proud to talk about it. Dig a copy of Jelita from two years ago and read how open Yasmin was about her sexuality. She was proud of it and encouraged others to do the same.

What Kosmo! did was share the part of Yasmin that many people didn’t know of and [I] hope it inspired those who are in situations that Yasmin once was [in] to go ahead and make that difference for themselves and not for society.

Shame that everyone lobbied for an apology. Kosmo! did all the mak nyahs and the transgendered community a huge favour. All of you took it away from them.

Go bask in your self-absorbed glory.
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Hi Jelly,

Thanks for your feedback. Actually, the point of my column wasn’t that the Kosmo! article was inaccurate. In fact, Kosmo!’s reporting was rather rigourous and by that, I mean that their journalism was faultless except for the ethical dimension to their reporting — which was the point of my column.

Media ethics demand the following: if we know that reporting something would jeopardise one’s safety, security or rights, or violate one’s privacy, we should refrain from doing so unless there’s clear public interest involved.

And while Yasmin may have been previously open about her sexuality, my experience was that she did choose to be private about it with the media when I first knew about her. To the best of our abilities, we respected her right to privacy, not because we wanted to judge her and others, but because she had a right to privacy.

And just for the record, not everyone, journalists included, signed that protest letter against Kosmo!. Because not all of us believed that the protest letter clearly articulated the principles involved.

Jacqueline.

Tabloid magazines sell on sesationalism. Like Kosmo, several prints around the world have landed in hot water because of the lack of journalistic etiquette, such as the UK’s Daily Sport. I believe you can’t turn to these magazines and get reliable news. Its hard to tell what’s true and what’s over-exaggerated in tabloid news.

And yes, Sex Does Sell.

They have [no] ethics and they have no credibility to aim for. They might as well be reporting alien (the flying saucer kind) kidnapping.

To appear relevant to the masses, they employ people like Awang Selamat to strike fear and uncertainity in the heart of Malay [Malaysians]. Besides, it keeps a whole group of Umno supporters employed so they know which side their bread is buttered.

Jac, the more online media keeps reporting “the other side of the story”, these gossip magazines will just sink into oblivion.

Minimise harm — ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.

According to this principle, journalists should:

* Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
* Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
* Recognise that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
* Recognise that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.
* Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
* Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes.
* Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.
* Balance a criminal suspect’s fair trial rights with the public’s right to be informed.

(From the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics)

In the case of Kosmo!’s article, the people behind it have violated this principle in at least four ways:

1. They have treated the memory of their subject, a recently deceased person no longer able to tell her side of the story, with disrespect, making allegations that may (given prevailing societal attitudes, prejudiced though they may be) diminish how she is remembered by Malaysians, and expose her family to odium.
2. They showed little compassion to her family and scant regard for the potential harm to her aged and frail mother.
3. They did not demonstrate any overriding public need that could have justified such an intrusion into their grief and privacy.
4. The mode in which they presented their report suggests that they have pandered to lurid curiosity, perhaps motivated by the need to sell newspapers.

Therefore, I believe that Kosmo! has breached journalistic ethics, and should be held accountable for it.

Also, expressing outrage at Kosmo! while ignoring flagrant journalistic misconduct everywhere smacks of double standards and hypocrisy.