(Credit: Klaus Hoffmeier/Wikipedia)

A UK magazine, Woman, reported speculation that a TV host’s girlfriend was pregnant. That wasn’t an invasion of privacy, the UK press regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation ruled last month.

The TV host, Ant McPartlin, and his girlfriend, Anne-Marie Corbett, complained over the Oct. 2018 article, arguing that Corbett isn’t a public figure, the claims weren’t in the public interest, and that the topic of a possible pregnancy is “a deeply personal and private matter,” IPSO explained. “They said that reporting on a possible early pregnancy was particularly intrusive, due to the medically accepted heightened risk of miscarriage.”

Woman magazine editors, however, argued its story wasn’t invasive and only reported on social media speculation. The magazine further argued readers wouldn’t necessarily believe its story to be fact. IPSO reported: “It also said that its readers would read the article in the context of the publication in which it appeared, and would not consider it to be an authoritative source of news.”

Because the Woman article reported on social media speculation and photographs to the pair, and didn’t indicate the magazine had any information to verify, it was not an invasion of privacy, IPSO found.

iMediaEthics has written to Woman for more information including about its claim to IPSO its readers don’t think it’s an “authoritative source of news.”