Heather Morris against the Greymouth Star

The Greymouth Star printed a brief single-column story on its front page on September 17, 2024, headlined Women in street scrap.

The article was based on a police description of two calls a few hours apart – the first to a family violence incident and the second to an altercation involving a women involved in the first incident and a neighbour. None of the people involved were named in the story.

Heather Morris, who said she was punched to the ground during the altercation, complained the paper had printed mistruths about herself and those involved.

The Greymouth Star’s editor said he stood by the accuracy of the story saying the police provided the information including the line at the end, “No serious injuries were sustained in either incident, we have spoken to those involved and the incidents were resolved.”

It is not clear what the complaint is about. This was a brief story based on a police summary of what happened. Although the complainant has briefly set out her account of what happened, and added some further detail, she has not made a case demonstrating that the story was inaccurate. Also, the complaint that was made to the editor was so general it is not possible to see how it could warrant a correction.

There was nothing to show that there was any inaccuracy or imbalance.  As no names were mentioned, it was hard to see the story would have caused any reputational damage.

 Decision:  No grounds to proceed.