It’s an unfortunate truth of journalism that if you tell a story to one outlet, their competitors will probably not want to cover it. But how often do members of the public know that?

Hayley Hocking keeps a public profile page campaigning on mental health after her brother’s suicide earlier this year. In a post from yesterday, Hocking says she was contacted by weekly mag Take 5, who were interested in printing her story. After a brief chat, she was told she would be contacted again. She was then contacted by That’s Life, a competitor, with whom she had a long discussion. The journalist at That’s Life read back the piece she’d composed on Hocking, and Hocking was looking forward to it running in the September edition.

A few days later though, she got a call back from That’s Life, who wanted to know why Hocking’s story had appeared in Take 5 in a double-page spread.

“They had printed my story. No read back, just bang printed. After that short conversation and I’d heard nothing after that …

“I can now not have my story printed in That’s life, which i am really shattered about. There are so many massive holes in this story and so many added in, made up parts. I understand there is always some mayo added to media stories and it seems like this story was no different.”