Listeners’ Choice Countdown. Song containing offensive language broadcast at 9.30am. Upheld (good taste and decency). Subsumed (responsible programming). No order.
News items broadcast simultaneously on The Breeze and Coromandel Gold FM two days running made allegations against a mayoral candidate for the Thames-Coromandel District Council over an email he had circulated; they used the terms “doctored”, “doctoring” and “falsify”. The candidate made a complaint under the accuracy and fairness standards. The Authority declined to uphold either complaint: the terms used were distinguishable as the opinion of his political rivals and were exempt from accuracy under guideline 5a; and the candidate had been given an adequate opportunity to respond, so had been treated fairly.
Not Upheld: Accuracy, Fairness
Breakfast. Presenter deliberately mispronounced the name of the Chief Minister of Delhi. Upheld (good taste and decency, fairness and discrimination and denigration): action taken. Not upheld (responsible programming). Orders (broadcast statement, $3,000 costs to Crown).
In the first 10 minutes of an episode of Outrageous Fortune, broadcast at 8.30pm, the characters used frequent coarse and obscene language. The Authority upheld that this breached standards of good taste and decency, responsible programming, and children’s interests: the frequent coarse language before 8.40pm was unacceptable in context, despite the AO classification and the expectations of regular viewers; obscenities in the first 10 minutes of the programme constituted strong adult material broadcast too close to the 8.30pm watershed; and the material warranted an AO 9.30pm classification and later time of broadcast. The Authority held that the action taken by the broadcaster in relation to one aspect of the good taste and decency and children’s interests complaints was sufficient (upholding the complaints and apologising to the complainants). The Authority ordered the broadcast of a statement, plus $3,000 costs to the Crown.
Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Responsible Programming, Children’s Interests
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency (Action Taken), Children’s Interests (Action Taken)
Orders: broadcast of statement, $3,000 costs to Crown
3 News. News reader referred to “Samoan prison guards”. Not upheld (discrimination and denigration).
Noise Control. Complainant shown arguing with noise control officer. Upheld (fairness). Order ($7,000 costs to complainant).
Campbell Live. Items asked “Where has all the aid money gone?” that was received following Samoa’s tsunami in September 2009. Not upheld (accuracy and fairness).
Sons of Anarchy. Fictional drama about outlaw motorcycle gang. Not upheld (good taste and decency, law and order).
Campbell Live. Item claimed that modelling agency was refusing to put forward a model work because of her hip measurements. Upheld (accuracy, fairness). Not upheld (controversial issues). No order.
3 News. Item stated that “protesters marched through the streets of Auckland calling for illegal whaling to be stopped”. Not upheld (accuracy).