One Network News, Tonight. Two items examined release of rabbits infected with rabbit calicivirus (RCD) in Australia, with focus on a farm near Broken Hill. TVNZ had upheld the accuracy complaint. Not upheld (balance).
All Decisions
Sex/Life promo. AO classified promo broadcast during the screening of the G rated film Sister Act II which began at 8.30pm. Upheld (responsible programming). No order.
20/20. Item investigating an accident which involved a fire truck, and which resulted in injury to three firefighters, included accusations of cost-cutting as the cause. Upheld (balance, acccuracy, fairness). Order (broadcast of summary of decision).
Sex/Life series, broadcast at 8.30pm. Oral sex and sexual positions were the topics for the last items in two programmes. A promo for a programme in the series was also broadcast at 8.46pm. Upheld: complaints about the two programmes broadcast (good taste and decency). Not upheld: complaint about promo and series. No order
Morning Report. Item reported on opening of a tourist tunnel in East Jerusalem near Islam's third holiest site. Complaint that broadcast was inaccurate because it implied that East Jerusalem was in Israel. Not upheld (accuracy).
Fair Go. Award of costs re decision 1996-094–095. $3,000 costs to complainant.
Newsnight, 60 Minutes. Both programmes dealt with the forthcoming visit of the Dalai Lama to New Zealand and each reported that China had invaded Tibet in 1950 and that the Dalai Lama went into self-exile in 1959. Not upheld (balance, accuracy).
Cover Story. The leading female character of the series was depicted as being a cigarette smoker; the series was broadcast weekly on Wednesday evenings between 8.30–9.30pm. Not upheld (law and order).
Assignment. The programme explored the economic crisis facing traditional sheep and cattle farmers and mentioned some of the land use alternatives to traditional farming adopted by some farmers. Complaint that the programme omitted any reference to the alternative of organic farming. Not upheld (balance).
False Memories. British documentary examined a number of cases in which, through the technique of "recovered memory", people believed that they had been sexually abused as a child where the evidence suggested strongly that they had not been abused. Not upheld (balance, accuracy, responsible programming, violence).