The Coast apologizes, retracts story on Kutcher

A Halifax weekly newspaper has issued an apology and retraction for a story it ran on Halifax Liberal candidate Dr. Stan Kutcher.
"On April 28th, The Coast published an article online and in print, regarding Dr. Stan Kutcher. In that article, The Coast referenced, without limitation or criticism, statements to the effect that, Dr. Kutcher, being one of the authors of a research paper, distorted the outcome measures and essentially lied. The Coast retracts those statements and without reservation, apologizes to Dr. Kutcher for having published them," The Coast wrote on its website.
The publication, which also issued the apology on its Facebook page and via Twitter, also agreed to make a donation in Kutcher’s name to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.
"It certainly has the potential to be very damaging because people may have read the article and have taken it on face value," not realizing it had been retracted and an apology has been issued, said Kutcher, who was out knocking on doors of potential voters Friday night.
He said his campaign team contacted The Coast on Thursday about the story, which was later pulled from the publication’s website.
"I stand by all my scientific research and my research has been published in the best journals in the world and has undergone peer review, has undergone every ethical review, period, end of story," said Kutcher, a psychiatrist who is a co-founder of the home for at-risk youth called Laing House and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre in Mental Health.
The Coast article wasn’t the only troubling incident for the first-time candidate, who said "hundreds" of campaign signs have gone missing or been vandalized.
He didn’t know why this was happening, but said he was "wishing that it wouldn’t be happening."
"It’s really, really important that we have people who want to do public service, be able to step forward to do public service because it’s so important for our country. I now can understand why people don’t want to get involved."
He didn’t know the amount of The Coast’s donation, but said it "was really important actually to have that donation" because helping those with mental illnesses and their families has been his life’s work.
He said he had "absolutely no idea" who was behind the story but found the timing of the story, in the final days of the campaign, to be "interesting."
Editor Kyle Shaw said in a telephone message that "the apology says what we need to say. We are sorry to Dr. Kutcher and we have retracted the story."
( pbrooks@herald.ca)

via thechronicleherald.ca

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