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BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 43/94 Decision No: 44/94 Dated the 23rd day of June 1994 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of complaints by SHIRLEY EARLLY of Auckland Broadcaster RADIO PACIFIC LIMITED I. W. Gallaway Chairperson J. R. Morris R. A. Barraclough L. M. Dawson...

ComplaintOne News – seabed and foreshore – Waitara hui – closing headline stated hui “disintegrated into conflict and name-calling” – allegedly inaccurate and misleading Findings Standard 5 – closing headline substantially misreported events – inaccurate and misleading – upheld Standard 6 – inaccuracy a question of scripting, not editing – Guideline 6a not applicable – closing headline unfair to organisers and participants – upheld OrderBroadcast of statementThis headnote does not form part of the decision Summary [1] A closing headline on One News broadcast on TV One on 23 September 2003 reported that the hui held that day in Waitara on the seabed and foreshore issue had “ disintegrated into conflict and name-calling. ” [2] David Gall complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the closing headline was inaccurate and misleading, and not supported by what was reported in the main body of the news item....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Te Kaea – item reported that colostrum from cows’ milk was being used to cure a variety of illnesses – allegedly unbalanced and inaccurate FindingsStandard 4 (controversial issues – viewpoints) – item reported a new product which was claimed to be a cure for a wide variety of illnesses – discussed a controversial issue of public importance – no alternative viewpoints were presented which questioned the product’s effectiveness or the scientific proof behind it – unbalanced – upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – reporter adopted the position put forward in the story that colostrum was a miracle cure – news was not impartial – viewers would have been misled – upheld OrdersSection 13(1)(a) – broadcast statement Section 16(4) – payment of costs to the Crown $1,000 This headnote does not form part of the decision....

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 158/95 Dated the 19th day of December 1995 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by LLOYD MINCHINGTON of Christchurch Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED J M Potter Chairperson L M Loates R McLeod...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989One News – item on walkout by New Zealand delegation during the Iranian president’s speech at a United Nations nuclear conference – reporter made statements about Iran’s nuclear programme and about a previous walkout during an earlier speech given by the Iranian president – allegedly inaccurate FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – statement that “Its reason: it’s for generating electricity” was careless and misleading – upheld – comment that a previous speech by President Ahmadinejad was “racist” was not material to the item – not upheld No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on One News, broadcast on TV One at 6pm on Tuesday 4 May 2010, reported on the New Zealand delegation’s walkout during the Iranian president’s speech at a United Nations nuclear conference....

Complaints under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989One News – item about an MP who reactivated Dutch citizenship – possible breach of law – MP’s lawyer presented as constitutional specialist and not as legal representative Standard 5 – inaccurate – upheld by broadcaster – role as lawyer since reported in other programme – action considered insufficient Standard 4 – balance – not considered by broadcaster – referred to AuthorityProcess Application by complainant for Discovery – declined Application by complainant for Interlocutory Decision – declinedFindings Standard 4 – item’s focus on possibility of by-election – balanced – not upheld Action Taken – a correction broadcast at the time of error should have occurred – now a year later, no order appropriate – upheldNo OrderThis headnote does not form part of the decision....

Complaint60 Minutes – Dover Samuels – Police investigation found insufficient evidence to prosecute – inaccurate to state he was "cleared" of the charges FindingsStandard G1 – inaccurate use of the word "cleared’ – does not mean "insufficient evidence" – uphold No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary A 60 Minutes item, broadcast on 17 December 2000 on TV One at 7. 35pm, looked into allegations made against Dover Samuels MP, which had been forwarded to the Police by the Prime Minister. Near the end of the item, the reporter stated that Mr Samuels had been "cleared" of previous allegations investigated by the Police. Peter Low complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that TV One had been inaccurate in using the word "cleared". Mr Low explained that the Police had used the term "insufficient evidence"....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Campbell Live – interview with one of the "medal thieves" – viewers were told a false name was used – caption said it was an actor's voice – figure shown in interview was in fact an actor – allegedly misleading and in breach of programme information standard Findings Standard 5 (accuracy) – viewers were misled into thinking they were seeing the actual interview – broadcaster did not take sufficient steps to correct the mistake for its viewers in the same medium – upheld Standard 8 (programme information) – subsumed into consideration of Standard 5 Order Section 13(1)(a) – broadcast of a statement This headnote does not form part of the decision....

The Authority has upheld two complaints concerning the accuracy of a brief 1News item on 15 November 2024 about heightened security in Paris following violence the previous week around a football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam. The item reported, ‘Thousands of police are on the streets of Paris over fears of antisemitic attacks…That's after 60 people were arrested in Amsterdam last week when supporters of a Tel Aviv football team were pursued and beaten by pro-Palestinian protesters. ’ TVNZ upheld the complaints under the accuracy standard on the basis the item ‘lacked the nuance’ of earlier reporting on the events, by emphasising the ‘antisemitic’ descriptor while omitting to mention the role of the Maccabi fans in the lead-up to the violence. The Authority agreed with this finding and further found the action taken by TVNZ was insufficient....

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1993-061:Department of Social Welfare and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1993-061 PDF521. 05 KB...

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1993-135–137:Long, Stanley and Singe and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1993-135, 1993-136, 1993-137 PDF1. 87 MB...

Complaint Holmes – series of items on the "brain drain" – Richard Poole – newspaper advertisement – Business Roundtable backing – unbalanced – news source lacked integrity FindingsStandard G6 – items lacked balance – broadcaster not impartial – Poole’s integrity not forcefully challenged – uphold Standard G15 – Poole an "information source" as required by standard – broadcaster failed to ascertain adequately his integrity/reliability – uphold OrdersBroadcast of statement$2,000 costs to Crown This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary Items broadcast on the Holmes show on TV One on 4, 5 and 6 October 2000 dealt with a perceived "brain drain" whereby young, educated New Zealanders were allegedly leaving New Zealand permanently for better jobs and an enhanced lifestyle overseas. Holmes is broadcast between 7. 00pm and 7. 30pm on weekdays....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989One News – item reported on Hone Harawira’s travel expenses – stated that he “racked up a $35,000 travel bill. . . that’s almost $4000 more than the Māori Party’s total travel bill” – allegedly inaccurate and unfair to Mr Harawira FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – comparison based on Parliamentary Service expenditure only – failed to mention that Māori Party MPs also received funds from Ministerial Services – created misleading impression that Mr Harawira spent more than the entire Māori Party on travel – upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – Hone Harawira is a political figure who should expect robust criticism – not unfair – not upheldNo Order This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast[1] An item on One News, broadcast at 6pm on Thursday 28 April 2011, reported on MP Hone Harawira’s travel expenses....

Summary There was controversy over the government’s proposal to enact legislation dealing with crimes of home invasion, according to news reports and an extended news item on Radio New Zealand Ltd’s Morning Report programme broadcast on 23 June 1999 at 7. 00am, 7. 30am, 7. 40am and 9. 00am. The former Justice Minister was said to be willing to admit that the bill had "some flaws". Hon Tony Ryall, Minister of Justice, complained that the reports were inaccurate when they reported that Sir Douglas Graham, the former Minister of Justice, "had admitted the bill was flawed". Mr Ryall advised that he had spoken to Sir Douglas, who confirmed that he had not made the remarks attributed to him. RNZ acknowledged that Sir Douglas had not used the word "flawed". However, it argued, the phrase was used accurately to reflect Sir Douglas’s view that the bill had limitations....

ComplaintLate Edition – Breakfast – alleged rat infestation in Helensville – no evidence of rats – community views not sought – item unfair and unbalanced FindingsStandard G14 – item failed to uphold standards of accuracy, impartiality and objectivity – uphold OrderCosts of $500 to Crown This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary An item broadcast on TV One on Late Edition on 6 June 2001, and on Breakfast on 7 June 2001, dealt with an alleged infestation of rats in and around Helensville. Hans Van Duyn complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the item was unfair and lacked balance. He said the only person interviewed was a former Helensville Mayor, Mr Eric Glavish, who had his own "reasons or agenda to make unsubstantiated allegations"....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Close Up – item about a ten-year-old boy who the reporter said was on the waiting list to have “tumours” removed from his body – outlined difficulties the boy’s mother had experienced dealing with his surgeon – allegedly unbalanced, inaccurate and unfairFindings Standard 4 (balance) – programme did not discuss a controversial issue of public importance – not upheldStandard 5 (accuracy) – inaccurate to state that the boy had more than one tumour – TVNZ failed to ensure that one of its sources was reliable – programme misled viewers by failing to inform them that surgeon had ensured the boy’s ongoing care – upheldStandard 6 (fairness) – complainant was not given a reasonable opportunity to respond to allegations in the item – upheld Orders Section 13(1)(a) – broadcast statement Section 16(1) – costs to the complainant $6,750 Section 16(4) – costs to…...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Breakfast – interview with medical researcher about the effectiveness of treatment by chiropractors – allegedly inaccurate FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – programme presented researcher as authoritative – he made a number of inaccurate statements – upheld No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] During Breakfast, broadcast on TV One between 6. 30am and 9am on 9 March 2009, one of the presenters interviewed a medical researcher, Dr Shaun Holt, about the effectiveness of chiropractors. Dr Holt said that chiropractors were “as good as conventional medicine” for treating back pain, although conventional medicine was not particularly effective because back pain was very hard to treat. He said “by all means see a chiropractor, they may well help,” but that many claimed to treat other medical conditions and research showed that chiropractic was not beneficial for those conditions....

Summary An incident involving a BB pistol was the subject of the lead news item on Nightline on 27 April 1999. It was reported that there had been "another school shoot-up" and that a student had been "caught up in the fury of the armed confrontation". The school’s principal had not been forthcoming when asked about the incident, according to the report. Mr Jackson, Editor of the Northland Age newspaper, complained to TV3 that its coverage of the incident was inaccurate and sensationalist and bore no relationship to the actual event which occurred. In his view, the reporter had elected to embellish the facts, despite having been given an accurate account of what had happened. He also objected to the report’s contention that the school’s principal had not been forthcoming when asked to comment....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 The ComplaintA viewer complained that a One News item "fundamentally misrepresented" the Electoral Finance Bill by saying, first, that "new rules for election spending will mean big donations to political parties' campaigns will no longer be kept secret", and second, that "other secret donors would also be outed – donations over $5000 would have to be declared”. The complainant said the Bill required no greater degree of disclosure of the amounts of donations and the identities of donors than the existing law. The Broadcaster’s ResponseTVNZ said the story was about third party activities at election time, rather than donations to political parties. As third parties would have to register with the Electoral Commission if they intended to spend more than $5,000 on an election campaign, their identity would no longer be secret....