A weekly newspaper has avoided censure thanks to a t-shirt worn by a cancer survivor.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation has found the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald published information about the woman’s breast cancer diagnosis without her consent.

However, the Herald was not deemed to have breached her privacy because she had worn a pink t-shirt with a ribbon that bore the slogan ‘It came, we fought, I won, Survivor’ during a charity cycle ride it covered.

The woman was an acquaintance of a Herald reporter who had agreed to the paper running a story about her charity fundraising.

The story described the woman, unnamed in IPSO’s ruling, as a “breast cancer survivor” and noted the slogan on her t-shirt.

Complaining under Clause 2 (Privacy) and Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, she said she had agreed to the story’s publication but had not mentioned her medical condition at any time because she had not wanted it to be made public.

Denying any breach of Code, the Herald said the reporter believed the woman’s illness was public knowledge and noted the phrase on her t-shirt was commonly associated with the woman’s illness, accompanied by an image of a ribbon.

The paper had also received a submission from a third party, assumed by the reporter to be acting on the woman’s behalf, via the ‘send us your news; section on its website which included her first name and her medical condition, along with photographs from the bike ride and a request for a call back if it decided to use the story.

The woman declined an offer of amends by the Herald to work with her and write a story highlighting the work of the charities she was raising funds for, and further claimed the t-shirt did not identify her as being affected by a particular illness because the slogan made no reference to any condition.

IPSO expressed concern over the reporter’s assumption that the woman’s condition was public knowledge and found their conversation did not constitute consent for the publication of that information.

The Committee also ruled the Herald had not taken steps to establish whether the third party’s submission had been provided with the knowledge of the woman, concluding the publication had published this information without her consent.

However, IPSO considered that the slogan and ribbon on the t-shirt effectively disclosed her cancer diagnosis, and the pink colour of the t-shirt and a bra worn over the top indicated it to be breast cancer.

The Committee sympathised with the woman’s desire to exercise control over the disclosure of her medical diagnosis, but it concluded that she had disclosed the information by wearing attire on the cycle ride that effectively communicated her status as a breast cancer survivor.

IPSO found it had been established in the public domain to a sufficient extent that she no longer had a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to this information, and accordingly its inclusion in the story did not constitute an intrusion into her privacy.

The complaint was not upheld, and the full adjudication can be read here.