Tsunami Survivor 'Betrayed' By Press
An Oxford student who survived the Asian tsunami has expressed disgust at the way she has been misrepresented and betrayed by the national press. Since returning to England, Maths finalist Naomi Bowman has been appealing for donations to help rebuild damaged areas in Thailand. However, attempts to publicise her appeal in national papers backfired when articles instead focused on her relationship with her Thai boyfriend.
Bowman claims key facts were fabricated, including her engagement to 30-yearold boyfriend Theep Janthamanee. She expressed particular anger at an article printed in The Mail on Sunday on March 13th, titled ‘Tsunami Survivor to Wed Thai Carer’. Bowman does admit to having casually told a Mail on Sunday reporter that she may marry her boyfriend “sometime in the future”.
Similar articles claiming she left the country to marry her boyfriend appeared in The Guardian, ˆThe Birmingham Post and The Coventry Telegraph. None of the papers she gave interviews to has yet donated its promised contributions to her appeal.
She told The Oxford Student: “Because of The Mail on Sunday, newspapers across the world have replicated the story of ‘how I found love with tsunami hero’ but none have mentioned the appeal, which was the sole reason for me doing the interviews in the first place.” Naomi has already managed to raise over £4,000 for Thai Tsunami survivors, but fears the sensational press coverage may have damaged its chances of raising double that amount.
Although her complaints to The Mail On Sunday were initially ignored, deputy news editor David Billham has now invited her to phone him to discuss the matter. The Mail on Sunday refused to comment on their promised donation to Naomi’s appeal.
21st Apr 2005