A TV One documentary entitled A Rotten Shame investigated New Zealand’s leaky homes crisis and sought to expose systematic failures in the building industry that had led to the crisis. The presenter door-stepped a building inspector responsible for inspecting a house eleven years earlier, which had since developed serious problems and had to be demolished. A portion of this interview was included in the programme. The building inspector complained that this breached the controversial issues, accuracy and fairness standards. The Authority held that the action taken by the broadcaster in upholding the door-stepping aspect of the fairness complaint was insufficient. The Authority did not uphold any other part of the complaint: the item focused on systematic failures which led to the leaky homes crisis rather than on the complainant, it included the complainant’s viewpoint, and it did not create a misleading impression about the complainant’s culpability. The Authority ordered TVNZ to pay $500 towards the complainant’s legal costs.
Upheld: Fairness (Action Taken)
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness
Order: $500 costs to complainant
An item on Campbell Live, broadcast on TV3 at 7pm, reported on bullying and fighting at Massey High School and showed repeated footage of girls fighting. It was not preceded by a warning. The Authority did not uphold complaints that the item breached standards relating to privacy, accuracy, fairness, responsible programming, children’s interests, and violence. The students shown in the footage were not identifiable to anyone beyond those who already knew about the fighting; the impression created about fighting and bullying at Massey stemmed from the facts of the incident and the response of students and parents; Massey was provided with a reasonable opportunity to comment and its statement was adequately referred to in the item; and while a warning would have been helpful, given the nature and context of the footage the broadcaster adequately considered children’s interests in broadcasting the footage during a current affairs programme at 7pm.
Not Upheld: Privacy, Accuracy, Fairness, Responsible Programming, Children’s Interests, Violence
An episode of the reality TV series Police Ten 7 reported on an alleged assault and robbery at a supermarket car park in Wellington. The police interviewed the victim, a man with cerebral palsy and consequent speech impairment. The voiceover made comments questioning the veracity of the victim’s story and the broadcast included two shots of his footwear, a pair of women’s high heels. The Authority upheld the fairness complaint: the man was not adequately informed of the nature of the programme and of his participation, and there was insufficient public interest to justify broadcasting the footage without first informing him. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the programme breached the privacy, accuracy, and discrimination and denigration standards: the man was identifiable but no private facts were disclosed and filming was in a public place; the commentary reflected the unusual circumstances and genuine views of the police; and the discrimination and denigration standard does not apply to individuals and the broadcast did not encourage the denigration of, or discrimination against, a section of the community. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Fairness
Not Upheld: Privacy, Accuracy, Discrimination and Denigration
No Order
An item on Close Up reported on an incident at Fairfield College, Hamilton in which a group of teenage girls were admitted to hospital after taking drugs. The presenter included a summary of problems previously experienced at Fairfield College. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the item breached the controversial issues, accuracy and fairness standards: the item did not discuss a controversial issue of public importance, it did not create a misleading impression about the problems faced at Fairfield College, and the College was provided with a reasonable opportunity to comment and its response was adequately conveyed in the broadcast.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness
During an item on Campbell Live a reporter went in search of the famous British actor Michael Crawford in Kerikeri. A number of locals were informed that Mr Crawford was living in the area and the reporter was filmed outside his gate. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached the privacy standard: Mr Crawford was identifiable but the item did not disclose any private facts about him.
Not Upheld: Privacy
An episode of Homeland, a drama series in which the CIA investigates a possible terrorist threat, was broadcast on TV3 at 8.30pm. It contained brief nudity and a sex scene. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the programme breached the good taste and decency, and responsible programming standards: the programme was correctly classified and the pre-broadcast warning for “sexual material” was adequate to cover the content in the programme.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Responsible Programming
An episode of Rude Tube, a programme showcasing a selection of viral videos from the internet, was called “Animal Madness” and included a clip of a man taking “an unscheduled toilet break” in a paddock, and being chased by a donkey apparently attempting to mate with him. The programme was preceded by a verbal and visual warning. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the programme breached the good taste and decency, law and order, and violence standards: most viewers would not have been offended by the scenes, the broadcast did not encourage viewers to break the law, and the footage did not amount to “violence” as envisaged by the standard.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Law and Order, Violence
During the Leighton Smith Show on Newstalk ZB, the host discussed verdicts in the Urewera Four case. The complainant phoned the programme and the host subsequently made comments about “nut bars” in New Zealand. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached the discrimination and denigration standard: the standard only applies to sections of the community and not to individuals; it was unclear which section of the community the complainant considered was denigrated or discriminated against; and the host’s comments were clearly his personal opinion and were not specifically directed at the complainant.
Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration
An item on Campbell Live reported on bullying at Massey High School. The Authority determined that it does not have jurisdiction to accept a referral of the privacy aspect of the complaint. Massey High School did not refer its complaint to the Authority within the statutory timeframe and the original complaint did not constitute a direct privacy referral.
Declined to Accept Referral
An item on Campbell Live reported on a disabled boy who was left alone on a school bus for four-and-a-half hours. The item included footage of an interview with the manager of the bus company responsible. The Authority did not uphold the manager’s complaint that this breached her privacy: while the complainant could have been identified, the item did not disclose any private facts about her in a manner that would be considered highly offensive.
Not Upheld: Privacy