In a radio interview with the founder of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the host of Checkpoint made three references critical of Jamaica. The Authority declined to determine the complaint that this breached standards relating to good taste and decency, controversial issues, accuracy, fairness, discrimination and denigration, and responsible programming: the complainant's concerns were matters of personal preference and editorial discretion.
Declined to Determine: Good Taste and Decency, Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration, Responsible Programming
An item on 60 Minutes reported on a high profile immigration case involving a Chinese millionaire, disclosing his address and showing footage of his business assistant in the lobby of the apartment building where he lived. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached the privacy standard: the address was not disclosed for the purposes of encouraging harassment and there was no evidence that harassment resulted from the disclosure; and the apartment building lobby was accessible to the public so neither the Chinese millionaire nor his business assistant had a reasonable expectation of privacy there.
Not Upheld: Privacy
A news item on 1XX News contained a summary of a BSA decision declining to uphold a complaint made by the complainant. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the summary breached the accuracy and balance standards: the item gave a fair summary of the Authority's findings and was not inaccurate or misleading, the brief news report did not amount to a discussion and the Authority's decision was not a controversial issue.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy
A guest host on the Paul Holmes Show on Newstalk ZB read out a text message which used the phrase "pre-op tranny", and the phrase was repeated by a listener who called the show. The broadcaster upheld the complaint that this breached the discrimination and denigration standard. The Authority found that the action taken by the broadcaster was sufficient.
Not Upheld (Action Taken): Discrimination and Denigration
A promo for Beyond the Darklands, a TV One series in which a clinical psychologist profiled notorious New Zealand criminals, included comments about the death of a toddler. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the promo breached the good taste and decency and responsible programming standards: while the subject matter of the upcoming episode was distressing, details of the abuse had been widely reported in the media, the promo was correctly classified PGR and screened during an appropriate host programme (The Force, a reality TV series about the work of police), and the promo itself was reserved and respectful.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Responsible Programming
A One News item allegedly contained comments that were inconsistent with a BBC report that quoted the United States Attorney General as saying New Zealand had opened its ports to US war ships. The Authority declined to determine the complaint that the comments breached the accuracy standard: the broadcaster was unable to identify a relevant broadcast which corresponded directly with the time and date specified in the referral, and in any case the complainant's concerns were matters of personal preference and editorial discretion.
Declined to Determine: Accuracy
A news item on Radio New Zealand National about the French and Greek elections reported that “the polls have opened in Greece for parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on the country’s harsh austerity measures”. The Authority first determined that it had jurisdiction to accept the complaint. It did not uphold the complaint that the item breached the controversial issues, accuracy and fairness standards: the use of the word “harsh” did not require the presentation of alternative viewpoints; the word was not a material point of fact and would not have misled viewers; “harsh” was intended to mean strict or stringent and was not pejorative in this context; upholding the accuracy complaint would unreasonably restrict the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression; and the fairness standard only applies to individuals.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness
A re-broadcast of an episode of the reality TV series The Inspectors showed an Environmental Health Officer carrying out a routine spot check at a Dunedin fish and chip shop and making critical comments about the state of the premises, downgrading it from a ‘B’ to a ‘D’. The inspection took place in 2009 and the programme was first broadcast on TV One in 2010. The complaint was about the latest broadcast in January 2012. The Authority upheld the complaint that this broadcast breached the privacy and fairness standards: the shop owner was identifiable even though his face was pixellated; any consent given was not informed and did not extend to the broadcast of the footage three years after filming; there was a high level of public interest in the footage at the time of filming but not three years later; and it was fundamentally unfair to broadcast footage three years after filming – the disclaimer at the start of the programme was not sufficient to mitigate the unfairness in this respect.
The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the programme breached the accuracy standard as it did not contain any material inaccuracies. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Privacy, Fairness
Not Upheld: Accuracy
No Order
An episode of Target featured hidden camera footage of employees from three different electrical companies working in the Target house. The companies were each given a score out of ten for their employees’ performance. The Authority upheld the complaint that the programme breached the privacy standard: the complainant was identifiable, he had an interest in seclusion in the Target house, the broadcast of the hidden camera footage was an offensive intrusion in the nature of prying, the complainant did not give his informed consent to the broadcast, and there was insufficient public interest in the footage to justify the breach of privacy. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Privacy
No Order
In a segment on Police Ten 7 profiling an aggravated robbery of a bar, a wanted offender was described as “possibly Māori but pale skinned” and “possibly Māori, [with a] light complexion”. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached the discrimination and denigration standard since it did not encourage the denigration of, or discrimination against, Māori as a section of the community.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Accuracy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration