Media watchdog urges The People to apologise for “inaccurate” headline |07 April 2011

This follows a complaint lodged to the SMC by the elected National Assembly member for Bel Ombre Nicholas Prea against The People.

In his letter of complaint, Mr Prea referred to an article published in the February 18, 2011 issue of The People with the headline, ‘Mancienne and Prea collect their R250,000 each’.

According to a press release from the SMC, Mr Prea found the article to be malicious, defamatory and meant to discredit him as a member of the National Assembly.

In its deliberations, the SMC noted that although the headline of the article clearly stated that
Mr Prea and Mr (Roger) Mancienne had collected R250,000, there was nothing in the article itself which proved that they had done so.

The article had gone on to say that it has “now been confirmed” that the sum would be “paid starting next month”, meaning March 2011.

“The Commission believes that the headline ‘Mancienne and Prea collect their R250,000 each’, published in The People, was factually incorrect and the article did not confirm the claim in the headline,” says the press release.

The SMC is of the view that by publishing the misleading headline, the editor of The People
newspaper “has fallen short of the journalistic obligation to accurate and truthful information”.

“Therefore, as mandated by the Seychelles Media Commission Act 2010, the Commission calls on the editor of The People to publish an apology in respect of the inaccurate headline,” says the press release.

The SMC is reminding journalists and editors to pay particular attention to the accuracy and truthfulness of their articles and headlines before publication and to maintain a credible and high standard of journalism.