A LETTER to the Editor from Dr Bryan Walpole in the Mercury on Tuesday, 10 June 2008, headed “Gay blood”, made a number of claims about the actions of Mr Bill Bowtell in relation to the policy of the then Australian government on HIV/Aids and in particular to the policy on gay men donating blood.
The Mercury accepts that the assertions in the letter in relation to Mr Bowtell, an expert in the field of HIV/AIDS policy, are false and have no basis in fact.
The Mercury accepts that Mr Bowtell was never a spokesman for gay men or a member or officeholder in any organisation that represented gay men. The Mercury accepts that Mr Bowtell believed that, given the circumstances that applied in the mid-1980s, the highest priority had to be given to the protection of the integrity of the blood supply, and that therefore homosexually active men should at that time be banned from donating blood.
The Mercury accepts that in fact Mr Bowtell’s position was the opposite of that asserted in Dr Walpole’s letter.
During his time as senior adviser to the federal minister for health from May 1983 to 1986, Mr Bowtell provided policy advice to the minister for health and the Australian Government on all aspects of HIV/AIDS policy. In 1984, Mr Bowtell advised the minister and the Australian Government that gay men should not donate blood so as to preserve the security and integrity of the blood supply.
Since 1983, Mr Bowtell has served with many Australian and international organisations concerned with the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. He is presently director of the HIV/AIDS Project at the Lowy Institute for International Policy and has an outstanding international reputation in the field.
The Mercury unreservedly apologises to Mr Bowtell for the hurt and damage caused to his professional reputation by the publication of the letter from Dr Bryan Walpole.
A photo caption accompanying a June 6 article entitled “B. C. Internet firm pays $9M to avoid U. S. gambling charges” incorrectly stated that Dan Parmar is the chief financial officer of ESI Entertainment Systems Inc. and that Mr. Parmar agreed to have ESI pay $9-million in profits in civil forfeiture to the U. S. government. Mr. Parmar resigned from ESI more than 18 months ago and is no longer associated with the company in any way and, accordingly, did not agree to any terms for payment of $9-million in profit nor did he make any admission or acknowledgement of any conduct in relation to ESI. The National Post apologizes to Mr. Parmar for any harm he may have suffered as a result of the publication of the photo caption. 
In The Independent Extra on 18 March 2008, we incorrectly suggested that David Gest had alleged that Liza Minnelli gave him herpes. Mr Gest has told us, which we accept, that he did not make any such allegation and that he has never had the disease. We apologise to Mr Gest for any embarrassment or distress caused by this mistake. 
Msnbc.com’s Courtney Hazlett issued the following statement June 6: “Today on MSNBC TV’s ‘Morning Joe,’ I chose my words poorly in describing the relationship between Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee. I take my responsibilities as a journalist seriously and know that words can have a strong impact. I sincerely apologize to Spike Lee and to the viewers for my comments.” 
OUR February 21 report of the BRIT Awards headed “Ozzy’s Freak Show” reported that Ozzy Osbourne had thrown the BRIT Awards into chaos after he suffered a health scare, toppling over twice, just before the Awards ceremony.
AN ITEM (Herald, June 15, 2007) dealing with medical certificates issued to students at Central Queensland University was or may have been damaging to the reputation of Dr Hisham Salem. CQU has told the Herald it does not believe any certificates referred to in the article were issued or obtained fraudulently, and that Dr Salem has not been identified as issuing a disproportionate number of certificates. The Herald withdraws any suggestion to the contrary, and apologises to Dr Salem for any hurt or damage suffered as a result of the article’s publication. 
LAST year, The Age published two articles in which reference was made to the circumstances of Senior Sergeant John Hauer leaving the St Kilda police station.
IN several prominent articles in July 2006, we wrongly stated that during the World Cup final the Italian defender, Marco Materazzi, used vile racist abuse by calling Zinedine Zidane the son of a terrorist whore thus goading Zidane into angrily headbutting him. We also said that Mr Materazzi was a hypocritical liar when he denied it and was rightly condemned for what he said. We withdraw these allegations and accept that Mr Materazzi did not say anything of a racist nature. We apologise to Mr Materazzi for any distress caused and have agreed to pay him damages. 
AN article appeared in last Saturday’s edition about a new service offered by event planning agency Out of the Blue which helped budding grooms plan the perfect proposal.
In Weekend TV (times2, May 5) we incorrectly suggested that David Gest had been given herpes by Liza Minnelli on their wedding night. This was entirely wrong. David Gest has never had the disease and has never actually accused Ms Minnelli of giving it to him. We apologise to Mr Gest for any embarrassment or distress caused by this mistake. 
From May 14:
A White Collar item published yesterday should have said Mr Carlson Tong Ka-shing had stepped down as chairman of the stock exchange listing committee after having served his maximum term. He has not been jailed, as was erroneously inserted during the editing process. We apologise to Mr Tong and deeply regret the error.
Last week’s Federal Budget coverage featured the Collard family as a case study. The story contained some errors.
A report carried on nzherald.co.nz on May 13 wrongly stated that David Oughton, who inquired into the actions of Mary Anne Thompson at the immigration service, had once been her boss at the Ministry of Justice and that questions had therefore been raised about his report’s impartiality.
ON November 3 and 4, 2005, The Australian published two prominent articles which made serious allegations against Sheik Abdul Salam Zoud on the basis of a speech the articles claimed he delivered. That speech was, in fact, delivered by someone else.
ON page 11 of the May 10 edition of The Courier-Mail a photograph of Todd Reid, a 23-year-old professional tennis player, was inadvertently and incorrectly referred to as a photograph of another professional tennis player, Paul Hanley. The photograph was mistakenly included in an article about Mr Hanley and a charge that Mr Hanley is facing in the UK. Mr Reid, pictured, has no association with that matter. The Courier-Mail regrets the error and apologises to Mr Reid for any distress or embarrassment caused.
AN article headlined “Natalie lifts the lid on dangers of Mr Wrong” published in Sydney Confidential on 7 April, 2008, reported that Mr Cameron Lamb tricked Ms Natalie Michael into getting married in Las Vegas. The Daily Telegraph accepts that this allegation is false and apologises to Mr Lamb for any hurt or embarrassment caused by publication of the allegation.
On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots’ video staff taped the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed.
THE Chronicle unreservedly apologises for any offence caused as a result of the story titled ”From Russia with love” in last week’s Entertainer section. The headline on the story about the Kiev Ballet was a sub-editor’s error.
An article in the Timelines section on March 31 (In The Herald: 1988), referred to a court case in 1988 involving a contempt of court summons against the then senior workers’ compensation commissioner Brian Muirhead. The article should have reported that the matter was eventually settled in Mr Muirhead’s favour. The Herald apologises to Mr Muirhead for the omission. 
The article “Banker accused of sexual harassment” (April 14) concerned the alleged conduct of Michael Blomfield during his employment at the Commonwealth Bank. The Herald accepts that the allegations published about Mr Blomfield are untested and are regarded as false not only by Mr Blomfield but by the bank, which has thoroughly investigated them. The Herald did not intend to suggest the allegations were true and withdraws any such suggestion. The Herald sincerely apologises to Mr Blomfield for any distress and embarrassment caused to him and his family. 
IN THE article “Lawyers, mugs and money”, published on April 21, the Herald reported that a judge had aborted a sexual assault trial saying that a three-day cross-examination of the alleged victim by the defence barrister Tania Evers had caused the trial to run off the rails.
ON April 17 we published a report under the headline “Living Target” concerning Ger Dundon, a member of a Limerick family at the centre of a gangland feud.
ON June 12, 2005, we reported that Ms Lisa Nolan of Mounthawk Tralee had been arrested in Ecuador after a quantity of cocaine had been found in her luggage and that she was awaiting trial.-
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