By TesfaNews,
The Standard Media Group has demoted David Ohito, the Digital Editor who approved two hoax stories for publishing on its website, will be transferred to a lesser position as bureau chief in Kisumu subrub.
The two embarrassing stories – Tanzanian miniskirt ban and the compulsory polygamy in Eritrean – become detrimental to the company’s image and overall credibility.
Initially, Tanzania vehemently protested the story, with the office of President John Magufuli releasing a hard-hitting statement on The Standard, which was forced the media group to pull out the story and issue an apology.
However, the hoax story that was run on the same media about the Eritrean government ordering all Eritrean men to marry two wives or face jail term by far escalated the embarrassment for the group.
The story has since been debunked with a lot of backlash on The Standard after it went viral all over Africa.
Eritrean government officials particularly irked over the story which appeared on The Standard and the backlash prompted the Eritrean Information Minister to express his disgust at the negative light at which Eritrea had been portrayed.
Minister Yamane G. Meskel states he found the allegations appalling and embarrassing.
“Media frenzy to parrot this ludicrous, fabricated and trite story of the Mufti’s presumed religious decree on mandatory polygamy is appalling,” he posted on his Twitter account.
He added that, ““the story illustrates vileness of the dark forces of disinformation and proclivity of others to readily embrace the negative narrative on Eritrea”.
The Standard Media Group has yet to apologize for the mess it created upon the Eritrean women and State as a whole.
