Regret the Error

Guardian comment editor Toby Manhire has blogged about why the paper chose to remove an article published under the byline of Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the opposition party in Zimbabwe. It appears that he had not approved the piece prior to it being submitted. Writes Manhire:

A piece that appeared in the Guardian newspaper and online, under the byline of Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe, has been removed from this site after contact from the MDC in Johannesburg and Harare yesterday made it clear that Tsvangirai had not in fact sanctioned it.
In a letter in the Guardian this morning, Tsvangirai explains that the article “did not reflect my position or opinions regarding solutions to the Zimbabwean crisis. Although the Guardian was given assurances from credible sources that I had approved the article this was not the case”.
Many newspaper comment/op-ed pieces in the names of politicians (and CEOs, union leaders and so on) are drafted by an aide or journalist and we expect the bylined author to review and sign off on it either himself or through intermediaries before publication, to ensure that the views expressed accurately reflect the bylined author’s position. Any drawback in this method is, we believe, outweighed by the benefit in publishing the important and influential views of the named author.
In this instance, the article was provided to the Guardian by a reliable and reputable media consultant, an experienced journalist who has had more than 400 pieces published for his clients. He has provided a number of pieces from Tsvangirai to newspapers including the Washington Post, the Melbourne Age and the Guardian. Indeed, it was through precisely the same channels that we received and published a piece bylined to Tsvangirai in the paper and online on April 7.
Our liaison believed that Tsvangirai had approved the piece. We now accept that Tsvangirai had not reviewed it and that it misrepresented his position. Accordingly, we have removed the opinion piece from the Guardian website.

The Guardian dealt with a similar situation last year. Also see this example, and this personal favorite from 2005.

Thanks, Dave!

Update July 1: The Economist published a related clarification:

Clarification: in an earlier version of this article we said that “Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, has called for the United Nations to send peacekeepers.” This was expressed in an article under Mr Tsvangirai’s name in the Guardian on June 25th. He subsequently said the article had not been authorised by him and that he wanted the UN to help “manage the transitional porcess” but that he had not advocated military intervention “by the UN or any other organisation”.

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