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
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
An episode of Piha Rescue was broadcast on 16 January 2012 on TV One. The complainant emailed TVNZ’s “Viewer Correspondence” email address expressing concerns about the episode. TVNZ’s email response went into the complainant’s spam email folder. He then referred his complaint to the Authority on the basis that he had not received a response from the broadcaster to his original complaint. The Authority determined that it does not have jurisdiction to accept the referral because the complainant’s original email was not a valid “formal complaint” and TVNZ responded appropriately to his email.
Declined to Accept Referral
Campbell Live featured a story about a tenant whose family allegedly suffered health problems as a result of living on a property that contained traces of methamphetamine. The Authority upheld the complaint that the item breached the accuracy and fairness standards: it overstated evidence, creating the impression that a ‘P’ lab had existed when the contamination was marginal and could have been caused by smoking, and it failed to include a report which found no trace of methamphetamine. The misleading impression as to the source, location and quantity of methamphetamine contamination, as well as the implication the complainant had done nothing to remediate the problem, resulted in an unfairly negative representation of the complainant, and the complainant’s comments as included were insufficient to counterbalance the damaging implications made about him. The Authority did not uphold the complaint about discrimination and denigration, as the standard does not apply to individuals. The Authority ordered TV3 to pay $1,400 towards the complainant’s legal costs.
Upheld: Accuracy, Fairness
Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration
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Order: $1,400 costs to complainant
During Robert & Jono’s Drive Show, broadcast on The Rock, one of the hosts told a personal anecdote about a man with Down Syndrome who fell off a swing and hurt himself; the host used the term “mental” several times to refer to people with intellectual disabilities. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached standards relating to good taste and decency, discrimination and denigration, and fairness: the story was conveyed in a light-hearted manner and the term “mental” was used without malice or invective; the co-host made mitigating comments and the host also made comments that were positive towards people with intellectual disabilities; and the man referred to was not “exploited” or “humiliated”.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration
The Rock radio station ran a promotion called “Win a Divorce” which culminated in a broadcast on Valentine’s Day during Robert and Jono’s Drive Show. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the broadcast breached standards relating to good taste and decency, privacy, fairness and responsible programming since the concept of promoting an on-air request for divorce was not reflected in the actual broadcast: it turned out that the two participants had planned to subvert the broadcast from the beginning as a protest against the promotion and they spent the time berating the hosts.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Privacy, Fairness, Responsible Programming
An item on 3 News, on the likely ban of guided heli-hunting on conservation land, contained file footage of commercial deer recovery that showed hunters shooting at deer from helicopters. The Authority upheld the complaint that this gave a misleading impression and breached the accuracy standard: commercial hunting is a completely different industry from guided heli-hunting and the footage should have been explained to ensure that viewers understood it related to commercial hunting. The Authority declined to uphold the fairness complaint on the grounds that the commercial hunting industry was not an “organisation” for the purposes of the standard. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Accuracy
Not Upheld: Fairness
No Order
During the Fair Go Ad Awards, two teams of advertisers were asked to design advertising campaigns within the programme, to “sell us Quade Cooper for New Zealand’s next Prime Minister”. The campaigns included comments such as “everyone hates Quade Cooper”. A complaint was made that the “Hate Quade” theme was unfair and encouraged “hatred of a person”. The Authority did not uphold the complaint: the piece was intended to be light-hearted and humorous and was presented in the spirit of good-natured ribbing and team rivalry, so was not unfair, and the discrimination and denigration standard only applies to sections of the community, not to individuals.
Not Upheld: Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration
A promo for Bad Santa, screened during the family Christmas movie The Santa Clause 2, contained brief shots of “Bad Santa” smoking and throwing a rock at a car windshield; he told a child sitting on his knee that he “loved a woman who wasn’t clean” and when asked if that was Mrs Santa replied, “No, it was her sister.” The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached standards relating to good taste and decency and children’s interests: most viewers would not have been offended by the promo when broadcast in this context, the sexual references were implied and would have gone over the heads of younger viewers, and the promo was correctly rated PGR.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests