Parties: Ms Linda Masarira v/s The Standard (April 2022)

Nature of the Complaint

Ms Linda Masarira lodged a complaint with the Media Complaints Committee against The Standard over a story headlined: “ED pampers Mwonzora & co” published on 24 April 2022. Ms Masarira says that the reporter misquoted her as she did not say she received 150 litres for attending Independence celebrations held in Bulawayo on April 18 2022.

Procedure: Full Adjudication of the Matter

The matter went to full adjudication after The Standard defended its story as being factual. At the adjudication meeting, Ms Masarira produced and played a WhatsApp voice note that she sent to the reporter in relation to the article. From the audio that was played, it became clear that Ms Masarira did not utter those words as quoted by the reporter in the story. The Standard editor agreed that they had misquoted her and offered to publish an apology through a matter of fact article.

Status: Resolved

The Standard offered to publish a matter of fact in their next edition of 22 May 2022. The matter of fact was published with the full clarification made by Ms Masarira.