An Australian news outlet unpublished video of a man “apparently engaged in a sex act with the car’s exhaust pipe,” the Australian Press Council reported.
NT News’ May 12, 2015’s article, “Overly keen motorist roots car’s exhaust pipe” included a video of the man who it said “made love to more than 700 vehicles” and called a 29-second video of the man in question”apparently engaged in sexual intercourse with a car,” the press council said.
“I have sex with cars” was the title of one of the links to the video, the press council noted.
NT News argued it was known for the “wit and vigour it brings to telling, at times, ribald stories” and has editors decide about questionable content. It said it didn’t pixelate or warn the video in question because it didn’t include nudity.
Further, NT News told the press council, “the article examined an unusual condition in a humorous manner, which ensured that it was not substantially offensive,” the council summarized.
After the complaint to the press council, NT News deleted the video and article. But the video was down by the time the press council ruled so it wasn’t considered in the decision.
The press council ruled “the article was not substantially offensive.”
“The article was deemed not offensive in its own right but, NB, in the context of the type of publication that the NT News is,” the press council told iMediaEthics.
The NT News’ website says it publishes “fair, investigative and quirky journalism.” It is owned by News Corp. Australia.
Australian media news site Mumbrella noted: “The Darwin-based News Corp tabloid is famous for its catchy headlines and bizarre stories which include Why I stuck a cracker up my clacker’ and ‘Best man left bleeding after being hit in the head by flying dildo.'”