The unopposed motion put forward by Prime Minister Henry Puna was regarding the article titled “MPs seek allowance top-ups in downturn”.
In her ruling, Rattle said the headline was unfair and the use of the word “demand” in the first paragraph was inaccurate.
READ MORE: Earlier Cook Islands News editorial on the issue
The newspaper had acknowledged that “demand” was a poor word choice and apologised for it to the Speaker.
Rattle noted that those two changes were made by the newspaper’s editor Jonathan Milne. However, she acknowledged that the rest of the report was accurate and therefore she could not impose a ban on the journalist involved.
Because the motion put forward did not implicate the editor, Rattle did issue a warning to Cook Islands News and said in future regardless of whether editorial changes to headlines and reports were made by the editor, the journalist would face scrutiny.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
