M&G says sorry to the DA over FW de Klerk story
The Mail & Guardian has issued an apology to the Democratic Alliance for an article it published insinuating that former president FW de Klerk had given “political leadership” lessons to Mmusi Maimane.
Despite both FW de Klerk, and DA leader, Mmusi Maimane, rejecting the claims, M&G editor, Verashnee Pillay, stood by the article.
On Friday, however, Pillay issued an apology entitled ‘Mea culpa: We should have done better’.
Pillay said that the M&G is committed to learning from its mistake in rushing the article.
“It’s been just over four months in the job and I’ve made my first major error.
“I could talk about newsroom pressures, looming deadlines and the need to make split-second decisions, but the fact is the mistake was mine and I apologise to our readers and the organisations and individuals involved,” the editor said.
“The Mail & Guardian is a trusted publication and I am sorry for damaging that trust and will work hard to restore it.
“We are committed to learning from this error and ensuring it does not happen again. We have engaged the services of an expert in newsroom ethics and practices who will be working with us to examine our processes and improving them,” Pillay said.
The DA said it was ‘pleased’ with the constructive engagement with the Mail & Guardian.
“The story and the front-page headline were totally without basis in fact and were in breach of several aspects of the Press Code,” it said.
“As a political party, we do not shy away from scrutiny, but we will also stand up to abuses and failures of media ethics when we see them.”
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