The Edge. A radio announcer, claiming he was doing a survey on STDs, telephoned a woman and asked a number of personal and intimate questions. The call was broadcast live. The woman who received the call had identified herself using her first name and employer’s name. Upheld (good taste and decency, fairness: action taken insufficient). Upheld (privacy). Orders ($1,000 compensation to complainant, $750 costs to complainant, $1,000 costs to Crown).
WCW Nitro. In a professional wrestling bout staged in front of a live audience, the wife of one wrestler was held and verbally abused while her husband was administered a hiding by several other wrestlers. Not upheld (violence: context)
Fair Go. Programme of light-hearted skits displaying some of the dangers for naïve first time house buyers. Complaint that each item was a satire in which the script questioned the integrity of real estate agents, and presented them as unscrupulous. Not upheld (fairness, discrimination and denigration).
National Radio news. Item reported that those who escaped from a fire in Sweden included refugees from Macedonia. Complaint about the view that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia could legitimately be called Macedonia. Declined to determine (accuracy, balance).
National Radio news. Item concerned an appeal against life imprisonment by one of Britain’s "Moors" murderers, Myra Hindley. Not upheld (good taste and decency, violence, causing alarm).
One Network News. Report that a yacht which had been grounded in a bay in the Far North had been looted, and that the abandoned boat had been stripped of its electronic gear, solar power unit and rigging. Complaint that the report was grossly exaggerated. Not upheld (accuracy, fairness).
Promos for The Making of the Human Body showed naked women. Not upheld (good taste and decency, balance, denigration, programme classification, children's interests).
Heartbeat. Scene showed stripper exposing her breasts. Not upheld (good taste and decency, responsible programming, discrimination and denigration). Not applicable (violence).
60 Minutes. Item focused on the Philadelphia Police Force, its Commissioner and its facilities and practices, but introduction to the item summarised some perceived problems of the New Zealand Police Force. Not upheld (accuracy, balance).
Newstalk ZB and Classic Hits FM news broadcasts. Items reported that a New Zealand university student had been forced to leave her employment in England as a nanny because of sexual advances by her employer, Mr Mohammed Al-Fayed. A listener complained that this differed from her account to another radio station, where she had emphasised cultural differences and human rights matters as the reasons for leaving. Not upheld (accuracy).