Daily Mail accused of stalking woman mistaken as Meg White

The Daily Mail newspaper is accused of secretly following and photographing a woman in Detroit, then publishing an article and images falsely identifying her as Meg White, former drummer of The White Stripes. This occurred even after the woman informed the newspaper of the mistaken identity. Multiple sources have confirmed this to The Guardian.

The British tabloid quietly removed the article and photographs, which were first published on August 6th, from its website last week. The Daily Mail did not issue a correction or an editor's note to explain the removal.

Meg White, praised for her powerful drumming style, was named one of the 100 greatest drummers of all time by Rolling Stone in 2016. Since The White Stripes disbanded in 2011, she has maintained a private life in Michigan, avoiding media appearances and public events.

When the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, she declined to attend, sending a message of gratitude through former bandmate Jack White.

The article, written by senior reporter Joe Hutchison, claimed the paper had located the "reclusive female music megastar" and intended to reveal her "secret new life," including what it alleged were the first public images of her in 17 years.

However, The Guardian has been informed that the newspaper followed and photographed a different person, a friend of Meg White. The Daily Mail published over a dozen pictures of the unsuspecting woman as she exited a vehicle and socialized with others outside a restaurant.

"Neither Meg nor the friend who was pictured had any idea they were being stalked and, if they had, they certainly would not have voluntarily chosen to be featured in anything related to the Daily Mail," stated a music label executive close to both Meg White and the photographed friend.

Speaking anonymously to The Guardian, the executive confirmed that neither Meg White nor the woman photographed were interested in speaking to the press. "I can also assure you that Meg is well and is living the private life she chooses and deserves in Detroit," they added.

According to the newspaper's own report, when The Daily Mail finally approached the woman and accused her of being Meg White, she laughed and told them they were mistaken.

Despite this, Hutchison wrote that the paper concluded she was Meg White because she politely replied "thank you" after the Mail complimented The White Stripes' music.

"That tells the reader and the journalist exactly nothing," commented Dan Axelrod, chair of the ethics committee at the Society of Professional Journalists. "The person being photographed could have been toying with the reporter or may not have heard the question properly and was saying ‘thanks’ to be politely dismissive.”

The newspaper offered no justification for its actions in pursuing and surreptitiously photographing someone who has lived out of the public eye for 15 years.

Karen Elson, former spouse of Jack White, expressed her dismay on a now-deleted social media post: "What’s so disheartening is the great lengths they took to try and hunt her down and how reckless and cruel it was to post images of another woman all over the internet."

Elson also stated that the woman in the pictures is a friend of Meg White, whom they "also love tremendously."

A third individual, a member of a Detroit-area band familiar with both Meg White and the woman pictured, also confirmed The Daily Mail's error to The Guardian.

The Daily Mail, previously banned as a source by Wikipedia moderators due to its reputation for "flat-out fabrication," is known for its intrusive celebrity coverage. The paper's editorial code states that "a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence."

"Tabloids like this tend to view celebrity status as permission to do whatever in terms of violating privacy under the guise of ‘they are public figures so they have to expect this and/or even are asking for it’," explained Erin Meyers, a professor of communication at Oakland University who studies media coverage of celebrities.

"The fact that a private citizen got caught up in all of this should merit at the very least a correction, if not a full apology," she added. "But I don’t think that fits in with their bulldog sort of approach to reporting, so instead they just bury it."

The Daily Mail and Joe Hutchison did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Axelrod noted that while "celebrity and gossip reporting gets stereotyped as inherently unethical, frivolous, and even inhumane," tabloid reporting "can be ethical and substantive." However, he observed that The Daily Mail "followed none of the most basic principles of journalism," and the woman it pursued "didn’t deserve to be chased around by the Daily Mail, ogled, photographed, and chronicled like a circus bear."

He further stated, "The SPJ Code of Ethics reminds journalists to ‘realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures’ and to ‘weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information.’ With the power to reach and convince millions of people of facts, the Daily Mail can still be a unique tabloid that entertains and informs without sacrificing accuracy or being inhumane to those it covers.”

Representatives for Meg White did not respond to requests for comment.