The Press Council has upheld a complaint that a Woman's Day article about Rachel Hunter misled readers into thinking the magazine had spoken to her.
The article, headlined Reinventing Rachel: My secrets to staying in shape, featured in the magazine's October 5 issue. The issue also featured the headline, Rachel reveals all - How I got my body back.
Dr Grant Hannis, an associate professor of marketing and journalism at Massey University, complained the magazine's cover and article gave readers the impression the publication had interviewed Hunter, when it had not.
He said the article breached standards of accuracy, fairness and balance. He also pointed out that information published by Fairfax Media stated Hunter had not been interviewed by Woman's Day, and that the magazine should have run an apology or correction when parts of the article were disproven by Hunter's comments to other media.
Woman's Day editor Sido Kitchin said the article had not breached standards, and was unaware quotes were outdated when it bought the article from an agency. She said the magazine did not claim the story was exclusive or an official interview and readers were attuned to the fact that Woman's Day articles were often "speculative and conditional".
