Good News : ‘Independent Observer’ fined Le 16 million for lying on Kabs Kanu and Sylvia Blyden ; Ordered to apologize for their lies , retract false report AND pay fine in one week or face suspension

 

INDEPENDENT MEDIA COMMISSION

                                                                                              3^rd Floor, Kissy House                                                                                                                      54 Siaka Stevens Street

                                                                                                            Freetown       

                                                                                                            221840/221835/076-623-321

                                                                                                            076-724-854

E-mail: info@imc-sl.org

www.imc-sl.org

Ref: IMC/09/09/01

11^th February, 2015

RULING ON A FRONT PAGE STORY PUBLISHED ON THE FRIDAY 6^TH FEBRUARY 2015 EDITION OF THE INDEPENDENT OBSERVER NEWSPAPER

HEADLINED “SYLVIA BLYDEN SAYS SHE HAD SEX 3 TIMES WITH REV. KABS-KANU”

The Research and Monitoring Unit of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) in its daily perusal of newspapers came across a lead story published on the 6^thFebruary 2015 edition of the Independent Observer newspaper that touched on many aspects of the IMC Code of Practice of 2007.

The matter was brought to the attention of the IMC Board which directed that the Managing Editor, Mr. Jonathan Leigh should appear before the Complaints Committee.

The Committee also took into consideration that it had officially received complaints from Dr. Sylvia Blyden and Rev Wilfred Kabs- Kanu.

Mr. Leigh faced the Complaints Committee on Tuesday 10^th February, 2015. At the hearing, he responded to a number of questions relating to the said publication.

When asked about whether he crosschecked his story, got the sides of and/or called the individuals stated in the publication, and adhered to the copyright rule, the Managing Editor, Mr. Jonathan Leigh, said “no.”

On the specific question of whether he took into consideration the provisions of the Code of Practice governing the print media before publishing such a story, Mr. Leigh also said “no.”

RULING

After deliberations, the Complaints Committee concluded that the said publication had breached five (5) provisions in the IMC Code of Practice of 2007 dealing with the print media to wit: (1) Accuracy, (4) Copyright, (6) Privacy, (23) Indecency and Pornographic details and (26) Publishing details of a person’s religion, ethnicity, individual lifestyle, or any physical or mental disability.

PENALTY

The Committee took cognisance of the fact that the last three breaches have no stipulated fines in the Code of Practice, and therefore utilised  provisions in both the IMC Act of 2000 as amended in 2007 (Section 36 (3) and the IMC Code of Practice of 2007 (principle 31, p. 17) in levying the fines. The provision states that“Where no penalty is prescribed by or under this Act for any complaints inquired into by the Commission, the Commission may censure or impose on the media institution concerned a fine not exceeding Le 5,000,000 (Five Million Leones). Failure by the newspaper or magazine to pay the imposed fine shall lead to the suspension of the publication until the fine is paid.”

The Committee decided as follows:

·        That on the breach of the Accuracy principles (Code 1-3), the newspaper be fined Le 1,000,000 (One Million Leones)

·        That on the breach of Copyright (Code 4), the newspaper be fined Le 500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Leones)

·        That on the breach of the provision on Privacy (Code 6), the newspaper be fined Le 5,000,000 (Five Million Leones)

·        That on the breach of the provision on Indecency and Pornographic Materials (Code 23), the newspaper be fined Le 5,000,000 (Five Million Leones)

·        That on the breach of the provision on avoiding publishing details of a person’s…individual lifestyle, or of any physical or mental disability unless these are directly relevant to the story (Code 26), the newspaper be fined Le 5,000,000 (Five Million Leones).

·        That the newspaper writes letters of apology to the individuals who are the subject of the story to be published three consecutive times with equal prominence being given to the publication.

·        That the newspaper retracts the said offending article together with the letters of apology.

The Committee instructed that the fine be paid within one week, failing which the newspaper’s publication will be suspended.

The Board of the IMC at an emergency meeting on Tuesday 11^th February 2015 fully endorsed the decisions of the Complaints Committee and the penalty imposed.

Signed

Amb. Allieu I. Kanu

Chairman, IMC