Damned in the USA. Documentary screened at 8.30pm examined the views of different groups in the debate about art as opposed to pornography. Not upheld (good taste and decency).
All Decisions
Newsnight. Item about the Downstage production of "Skin Tight" included brief excerpts with nude scenes where the actor's penis was electronically masked. Declined to determine (discrimination and denigration, fairness).
Sex. Episode in series contained an item about a career stripper. Upheld: majority (good taste and decency). Not upheld (balance, discrimination and denigration). No order.
One World of Sport. Announcement of names of the rugby players chosen to go to South Africa to play in the World Cup made in front of a Steinlager beer sign. Not upheld (liquor).
One Network News. Press conference about a rugby league club contained shots showing DB Bitter signage. Not upheld (liquor).
Sportsnight. Item included part of conference about the Auckland Warriors rugby league team. Not upheld (liquor).
60 Minutes. Item examined the case of a woman who became seriously ill after being prescribed a thyroid dietary supplement by a nurse. During the item, her case was used to question the adequacy of the controls which apply to dietary supplements. Complaint that this breached the balance, accuracy and fairness standards. Upheld (balance). Not upheld (accuracy, fairness). No order.
60 Minutes: "The Bitter Pill". Item examined the case of a woman who became seriously ill after being prescribed a thyroid dietary supplement. It considered the extent of the controls on dietary supplements when compared with orthodox medicines and included some filming at the company which made the supplement and an interview with the company's doctor. Upheld (accuracy, one point). Not upheld (balance, fairness, editing). No order.
A sequence of films was shown within the space of a few days: The Untouchables, You Only Live Twice, Iron Eagle II, Bladerunner and X-Files. The first four were trailered in a promo broadcast on TV2 entitled The Boys are Back in Town. Complaint about the violence in one specific scene and, generally, the excessive violence in The Untouchables, and also the violence shown in the extracts included in the promo. A majority of the Authority upheld the complaint about the excessive violence in The Untouchables broadcast at 8.30pm and, unanimously, upheld the complaint about the promo. No order.
Frontline: "The Tiongs". A two-part item examined the New Zealand activities of forestry company Ernslaw One Ltd, reporting criticism of the company's Malaysian principals' logging companies in Papua New Guinea and Sarawak. Upheld (balance, fairness). Subsumed (responsible programming: deceptive programme practice). Order (broadcast of summary of decision and an apology).