Nature of Complaint
The Media Complaints Committee received a complaint from Mr Nkululeko Nkala over an article published by B-Metro headlined: “Intwasa festival boss in nasty street brawl.” Mr Nkala says the story is malicious and is meant to tarnish his image and has affected his work and sponsorship deals as the facts of the matter in the whole story were not captured accurately.
Mr Nkala in the complaint says the reporter Mr Langa Mabhena, is using the media and the newspaper story to settle personal scores, which he says is both unprofessional and unethical for a journalist to do. Mr Nkala says the story is not written factually and all the evidence provided and given before publication of the story was not used but rather he was misinterpreted in the whole story. Mr Nkala complains that the manner in which the story was written portrays him as an aggressor when in actual fact it is him who was assaulted. Mr Nkala wants a retraction and an apology to be published to address the misrepresentation he suffered. Mr Nkala says there was no brawl between him and the person he is alleged to have fought, but instead he was assaulted and a case of assault was opened with the police and the perpetrator paid an admission of guilty fine.
Procedure: Full Adjudication of the Matter
The matter went to a full adjudication before the Bulawayo Provincial Adjudication Committee. B-Metro was represented at the hearing by its Editor Mr Tumeliso Makurane. Mr Nkala presented his case and said contrary to the story he was not involved in a brawl but was assaulted. As part of the evidence Mr Nkala said he presented the reporter with evidence that the perpetrator paid an admission of guilt fine while he (Nkala) did not pay any admission of guilty fine. Mr Nkala says the reporter deliberately left out the information that would have shown that he was a victim and not the aggressor. He further said the story had inaccuracies as he was not the boss at Intwasa Arts Festival but the person in charge is Mr Raisedon Baya. Mr Nkala says the reporter who authored the story has sour grapes with him and wants the newspaper to put the correct facts across.
Status: Resolved
After presentations by Mr Nkala and interrogation of facts arising from the complaint, B-Metro editor, Mr Makurane indicated that their story was written from witnesses’ accounts and the reporter captured eye witness accounts. Mr Makurane indicated that as part of accountability procedures he will request for written statements from witnesses quoted by the reporter in the story to verify on whether they stand by quotations made by the reporter in the story. Mr Makurane said he will analyse the statements and make a decision on how they proceed with the matter. Mr Makurane indicated that as part of the newspaper policy they value accountability to readers and will investigate whether there were lapses on the part of the reporter in interpreting eye witness accounts. However, after deliberations on the matter, the complainant in the matter, Mr Nkala indicated that he would not seek any further remedy on the matter and indicated that the interaction with Mr Makurane and the committee was adequate and important in his role as an artiste. He indicated that the interaction with B-Metro was adequate to create common understanding and said seeking an apology at this stage will not serve any purpose but indicated that the face to face engagement and clarification of issues was vital as there was an understanding of his position on the matter complained of. The committee noted the consensus arrangement and commended the professionalism exhibited by Mr Makurane towards amicably resolving the matter, and thanked Mr Nkala for utilising the media self-regulation mechanism instead of reporting to courts of law.
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