BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Summary  

[This summary does not form part of the decision.] 

The Authority has declined to determine a complaint alleging a brief news bulletin on Radio New Zealand’s RNZ Concert breached the balance and accuracy standards in reporting statements by US Vice President JD Vance. The Authority found in all the circumstances the complaint should not be determined as it amounted to the complainant’s personal preference regarding matters of editorial discretion and the complainant’s concerns about accuracy derived from a misinterpretation of the bulletin. 

Declined to Determine (s 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 - in all circumstances): Balance, Accuracy

The broadcast

[1]  A 27-second news bulletin on RNZ Concert at 6am on 15 February 2025 stated, in full:

Newsreader: The US Vice President JD Vance has warned Washington might impose economic sanctions on Russia if it refuses to agree what he called a good peace deal with Ukraine. Mr Vance has been addressing leaders at the Munich Security Conference. Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will only meet Russia's leader for peace talks once a common plan with the US and European leaders has been agreed.

The complaint

[2]  Vaughan Samuelson complained the broadcast breached the balance and accuracy standards of the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand on the basis:

• Vance had ‘delivered a seminal speech’ at the Munich Security conference which criticised Europe’s ‘curtailment of free speech and immigration policies’ and ‘mentioned EU interference in Romania’s elections’. However, RNZ’s bulletin ‘just reported that Vance had threatened Russia with sanctions, which were not mentioned at all’.
• This is ‘one example of many, suggesting that RNZ News is not only unbalanced, but is engaging in activism’.

[3]  Following RNZ’s decision on the complaint, Samuelson added:

• The broadcaster said RNZ Concert is a music programme, news is in summary form only and Vance’s speech was only 11 hours before the news broadcast. However, these ‘excuses are not plausible’ noting news is presumably ‘piped in’ from RNZ’s news department and the speech was ‘only 19 minutes long’.
• RNZ’s later broadcasts on the subject ‘were not much better, containing only a reference to free speech’.
• ‘There is no excuse for issuing a false report.’

The broadcaster’s response

[4]  RNZ did not uphold the complaint for the following reasons:

• News on RNZ Concert is summary in nature, especially at 6am.
• It is not possible, nor do listeners expect ‘every aspect’ of a story to be covered in a brief bulletin on a music station.
• There was further coverage of the speech throughout the morning and considerably more detail available on RNZ National, where news and current affairs are ‘staple content elements’.
• RNZ Concert focuses on providing a musical experience, rather than in-depth journalistic coverage. The bulletins are short (two minutes) and try to cover four or five stories in a very summary form (a couple of sentences each).
• This is ‘very common for music stations, some of which have no news bulletins outside of breakfast and drive times’.

[5]  RNZ also provided a list of RNZ National bulletins on 15 February, with more detailed coverage of Vance’s formal speech.

Outcome: Declined to Determine

[6]  Section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 authorises this Authority to decline to determine a complaint if it considers that, in all the circumstances of the complaint, it should not be determined by the Authority.

[7]  In this case, the Authority considers it appropriate to exercise its s 11(b) discretion on the following grounds

• The subject matter of the broadcast and the complainant’s preference the bulletin should have included additional information about Vance’s speech relate to matters of editorial discretion. Such a complaint is not, in general, capable of being resolved by a complaints procedure because it concerns the exercise of a discretion.¹
• The Authority’s role is to consider complaints about content broadcast, not to direct what content should be broadcast.²
• The complainant’s concerns about accuracy derive from a misinterpretation of the summary bulletin, ie that it indicated Vance’s statement about possible economic sanctions was made during his keynote address to leaders at the Munich Security Conference when it was made prior to the address.
• While we understand how the misinterpretation arose, the bulletin did not state Vance conveyed the sanctions warning in his keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference and it is accurate to report (i) Vance did convey such a warning and (ii) Vance had been addressing leaders at the Munich Security Conference.³ In the circumstances, any risk of confusion regarding the venue in which Vance’s warning was delivered is insufficient to merit our intervention.

[8]  Therefore, in all the circumstances of the complaint, it should not be determined by the Authority.

For the above reasons the Authority declines to determine the complaint under s 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Aroha Beck
Acting Chair
26 May 2025

Appendix

The correspondence listed below was received and considered by the Authority when it determined this complaint:

1  Samuelson’s original complaint (re-submitted after non-receipt) – 27 March 2025

2  RNZ’s decision – 3 April 2025

3  Samuelson’s referral to the Authority – 3 April 2025

4  RNZ’s response to the referral - 10 April 2025

5  Samuelson’s further comments (1) – 10 April 2025

6  Samuelson’s further comments (2) – 10 April 2025

7  RNZ’s confirmation no further comments – 17 April 2025

¹ Broadcasting Act 1989, s 5(c)
² For a similar finding, see Garbutt and Television New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2024-013 at [6]
³ Reuters “US VP threatens sanctions, military action, to push Putin into Ukraine deal” Reuters (online ed, 14 February 2025); Bojan Pancevski and Alexander Ward “Vance wields threat of sanctions, military action to push Putin into Ukraine deal” Wall Street Journal (online ed, 14 February 2025); Jesse Yeung “Vance says US has economic and military ‘tools of leverage’ if Russia doesn’t push for peace with Ukraine” CNN (online ed,  14 February 2025); Beril Canakci “Vance warns of sanctions, military action if Moscow refuses Ukraine peace negotiations” Anadolu Ajansi  (online ed 14 February 2025)