Directors side with editor
NZPA-AP London Independent directors of “The Observer” newspaper yesterday accused the owner, Roland “Tiny” Rowland, of interfering in its editorial freedom, and backed the editor for publishing reports of alleged atrocities in Zimbabwe.
Mr Rowland, whose Lon-don-based Lonrho group has huge commercial interests in Zimbabawe, appeared likely to speed up negotia-
tions to sell the prestigious liberal weekly after the directors handed victory to the editor, Mr Donald Trelford, in the head-on confrontation. Mr Rowland immediately rejected the directors’ findings. He declared that the owners “have an absolute
right to express disagreement with what is published.” The blue-ribbon panel of five independent directors,
including retired academics and former top civil servants, was set up in 1981 on Government order to protect editorial freedom when Lonrho bought “The Observer,” Britain’s oldest Sunday newspaper, from the United States-based Atlantic Richfield Co.
Mr Trelford, said that he was “gratified that the integrity of ‘The Observer’s’ reporting has been vindicated.”
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Press, 26 April 1984, Page 10
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160Directors side with editor Press, 26 April 1984, Page 10
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