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Complaint under section 8(1C) of the Broadcasting Act 19893 News – item reported that nine SOEs had paid bonuses to staff in 2008 – two SOEs had not responded to Official Information Act requests from the broadcaster – showed reporter at Ombudsman's office handing over a complaint about the lack of response – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency, law and order, balance, accuracy and fairness standards Findings Standard 1 (good taste and decency), Standard 2 (law and order), Standard 4 (balance) and Standard 5 (accuracy) – not applicable – not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – no evidence of unfair pressure being placed on Office of the Ombudsman – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision....

ComplaintTonight – item on papal visit to Jerusalem – reference to Israel – inaccurate FindingsStandard G14 – reference ambiguous – implicitly included area beyond Jerusalem – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary A news reporter presenting a report on the papal visit to Jerusalem described himself as being in Israel when the scene depicted showed he was in East Jerusalem. The item was broadcast on Tonight on TV One at 10. 30pm on 23 March 2000. On behalf of the Wellington Palestine Group, Ms Zarifeh complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the description was inaccurate, as she maintained that East Jerusalem was not in Israel. In its response, TVNZ said the reference to Israel in the item was not inaccurate, although it conceded that the reporter’s description did not conform to its house style. It declined to uphold the complaint....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Campbell Live – reported on Christchurch homeowners living in the government’s red zone with regard to their replacement insurance policies – interviewed Tower Insurance customer who had been advised that his replacement insurance would cover the cost of repairing his damaged house but not its full replacement value – visited Tower’s head office – allegedly inaccurate and unfair FindingsStandard 6 (fairness) – Campbell Live exhausted all legitimate methods to obtain comment from Tower – Mr Campbell’s approach polite and non-confrontational – door-stepping used as a means of obtaining information and constructive comment – not unfair to Tower or the receptionist – reference to email a fair summary of its contents – overall Tower treated fairly – not upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – subsumed into consideration of Standard 6 This headnote does not form part of the decision....

Mary Anne Shanahan declared a conflict of interest and did not participate in the determination of this complaint. Summary [This summary does not form part of the decision. ]An item on Radio Tarana News reported on District Court proceedings involving the complainant, a former Fiji government minister, regarding a dispute over rent allegedly owed to the landlord of a building he leased. The Authority did not uphold his complaint that the item was unfair, inaccurate and unbalanced. The item was a straightforward, brief news report, and the complainant’s position was fairly included in the item. Not Upheld: Fairness, Accuracy, Controversial Issues, Good Taste and Decency, Discrimination and DenigrationIntroduction[1] An item on Radio Tarana News reported on District Court proceedings involving the complainant, Rajesh Singh, a former Fiji government minister, regarding a dispute over rent allegedly owed to the landlord of a building he leased....

Complaint under section 8(1C) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Promo for Friday Night of Comedy – contained footage from programme episodes that had already screened – allegedly in breach of accuracy and responsible programming standards FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – comedy promo not a factual programme to which the accuracy standard applies – not upheld Standard 8 (responsible programming) – promo was generic and promoted programme series, as opposed to specific upcoming episodes – promo did not deceive or disadvantage viewers as envisaged by the standard – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Introduction [1] A promo for Friday Night of Comedy highlighted multiple programmes that were scheduled to screen that evening, and contained footage from the different programme series. The promo was broadcast on TV One at about 6. 20pm on 24 August 2012....

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1992-016:Cooper and TV3 Network Services Ltd - 1992-016 PDF454. 76 KB...

Warning — This decision contains references to sexual violence. The documentary Swipe with Caution investigated the use of online dating apps, including interviews with relevant experts and dating app users, as well as detailing specific case studies. One of those case studies involved the complainant, who was convicted of sexual violation and assault after meeting with Ms X through a dating app. Ms X, through an actor, retold her story of the night. The complainant considered the broadcast was inaccurate and portrayed him unfairly. He argued Ms X’s recollections were presented as matters of proven fact but were inconsistent with the agreed facts identified in the Court’s sentencing decision. The Authority did not uphold the complaint, finding the particular segment had high public value, as it involved a survivor telling her story, and was otherwise materially accurate....

The Authority has upheld an accuracy complaint about RNZ news bulletins broadcast on 19 and 20 April 2022 reporting on the Government’s apparent delay in ending the MIQ system, despite recently released public health advice from November 2021 noting that a changed risk assessment meant MIQ would no longer be justified. The Authority found the items were misleading by omission as they gave a strong impression the advice stated MIQ should be wound up immediately (rather than through a ‘carefully managed transition’ to safely shift to a new system), and the Government had acted contrary to that advice. The Authority did not uphold the complaint under the balance standard. While finely balanced, noting the standard allows balance to be achieved over time, the Authority found RNZ’s later coverage (particularly on 20 April) adequately conveyed the Government’s perspective. Upheld: Accuracy. Not Upheld: Balance Order: Section 13(1)(a) broadcast statement...

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]The Authority has not upheld complaints from two complainants, a Christian organisation and its director, about an episode of Sunday which investigated gay conversion therapy and whether this practice was happening in New Zealand. The director, ‘X’, was filmed covertly during the programme, appearing to offer gay conversion therapy to an undercover reporter, ‘Jay’, who posed as a young Christian ‘struggling with same sex attraction’. The Authority found that the broadcaster’s use of a hidden camera in this case represented a highly offensive intrusion upon X’s interest in seclusion and that, on its face, this broadcast breached their privacy. However, the Authority found that the high level of public interest, both in the programme as a whole and in the hidden camera footage, justified the broadcaster’s use of a hidden camera....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint regarding an episode of The Detail, where the host provided a correction to a comment made in a pre-recorded interview immediately after the comment. The Authority considered this sufficiently addressed the inaccuracy in the circumstances, and the way in which it was presented to the audience was an editorial decision open to the broadcaster. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

Te Raumawhitu Kupenga declared a conflict of interest and did not participate in the determination of this complaint. Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]An item on ONE News covered ‘the Foreign Minister’s controversial payment of $11. 5 million towards businessman Hmood Al-Ali Al-Khalaf’s Saudi farm’. It reported that Minister Murray McCully had ‘struck the deal to avoid a $30 million legal threat’, but then denied that there had been a legal threat. The Authority did not uphold a complaint that the item was inaccurate and unfair to the Minister by failing to distinguish between Mr Al-Khalaf merely assessing his legal position and actually threatening legal action, and consequently misrepresenting the Minister’s position. The issue arose through the use of ambiguous language, both by the broadcaster and by the Minister, and did not justify the Authority upholding a breach of standards....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about an interview on Breakfast with a public health researcher regarding the potentially carcinogenic properties of glyphosate, an ingredient in commonly available and widely used weed killers. The Authority found there was no breach of the balance standard as viewers would have been sufficiently aware of the existence of alternate views (both from the programme itself and from other reporting within the period of current interest) and that the accuracy standard did not apply as the relevant statements were analysis and opinion. Not Upheld: Balance, Accuracy...

The Authority has not upheld an accuracy complaint about a statement by Newshub’s political editor, ‘the Government announced today it is going to be scrapping cultural reports [used in sentencing],’ following an item focused on the Prime Minister’s comments at Waitangi and on the Treaty Principles Bill. The complaint alleged it was misleading to say the reports had been ‘scrapped’ when the Government had actually announced it would remove legal aid funding for the reports. The Authority was not convinced the statement was inaccurate, given the practical effect of removing Legal Aid funding for cultural reports; and even if it were, the alleged inaccuracy was not material to the segment, and would not have impacted audience’s understanding of the broadcast as a whole. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint under the accuracy standard about Dr Siouxsie Wiles’ statement ‘It's safe to have the [COVID-19 Pfizer] vaccine if you're pregnant’. The Authority found the statement was materially accurate. In any event, it was reasonable for the broadcaster to rely on Dr Siouxsie Wiles as an authoritative source. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 121/94 Dated the 1st day of December 1994 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by LEWIS MORGAN of Kihikihi Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED J R Morris (Acting Chairperson) L M Loates W J Fraser...

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 1996-033 Dated the 21st day of March 1996 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by JOHN LOWE of Oakura Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED J M Potter Chairperson L M Loates R McLeod A Martin...

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 1996-128 Dated the 3rd day of October 1996 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by JANET MIDDLEMISS of Featherston Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED J M Potter Chairperson L M Loates R McLeod A Martin...

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....

Complaint3 News – possible cure for cancer – deceptive – misleadingFindingsStandard G7 – not applicable Standard G11 – not applicable Standard G15 – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary A dietary supplement made from pig pancreatic enzymes was said to provide a possible cure for cancer, according to an item on 3 News broadcast on 11 May 2000 between 6. 00–7. 00pm. Murray Tonks complained to TV3 Network Services Ltd, the broadcaster, that the item lacked scientific credibility and that it was apparent that there was no independently verified research findings which backed the claims made. In his view, the item used a deceptive programme practice and was misleading, as it could have raised false hopes for cancer sufferers....