The South African Press Council has ordered Independent Media to issue an apology to journalist Karyn Maughan for an opinion article which compared her to Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.
The order was made in a ruling dated 6 August, and related to a column published in March.
The column, carrying the byline of Edmund Phiri, took aim at Maughan after she reported on cases in which Independent Chairman Iqbal Survė was involved.
The Council’s ruling noted: “Comment or criticism is protected even if it is extreme, unjust, unbalanced, exaggerated or prejudiced, as long as it is without malice, is on a matter of public interest, has taken fair account of all material facts that are either true or reasonably true, and is presented in a manner that it appears to be comment.”
It found that the column in question had impugned Maughan as a racist and as a propagandist rather than a journalist.
Independent Media was required to take down online versions of the article and to publish an apology to Maughan, headlined as such.
There had been speculation as to whether Phiri was in fact a real person. In the event, someone purporting to be Phiri had made a virtual appearance at the hearing, though he claimed to be unable to turn on a camera on his computer, or to send an image via a mobile phone.
It is unclear whether Independent Media intends to comply. A critique of the judgement was placed prominently on its website, listing a series of factors it claimed pointed to a flawed case. It stated that the ruling posed a threat to media freedom and pledged that “we will not be silenced by biassed [sic] and reactionary rulings.”