NZ paper stirs controversy; publishes late Jackass star Ryan Dunn’s picture instead of a dead Israeli soldier

The error came about due to the fact that Boyland had posted several images of Ryan Dunn on his Facebook page.

Guy Boyland was a fan of comedian Ryan Dunn and had posted the photo we used on his Facebook page when the comedian died in 2011. The paper picked up the photographs thinking they were of Boyland and published them.

The paper had to issue an apology to the friends and family of Seageant Guy Boyland after spotting their error.

As an aftermath, The Herald’s editor, Shayne Currie, as well as Jane Hastings, chief executive of APN’s New Zealand division, conversed with Boyland’s family.

In form of an apology on his paper’s website, Currie wrote: “The family members have been remarkably forgiving, particularly in the circumstances. I have apologised for adding to their grief and I will keep them fully updated on how this happened as obviously it is unacceptable.

“I would also like to apologise to our readers. The public trust us to get it right, and we must make sure that this does not happen again.

“We are currently looking into what checks were made regarding the two images, with a view to ensuring procedures are reviewed to ensure that there is no repeat of this [type of] error in the future.”