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The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a story called “A Hāngī for my Birthday,” which was read out on Storytime on RNZ National, breached the children’s interests and offensive and disturbing content standards. The story was told from the perspective of a young child whose birthday was that day, and who helped his family prepare a hāngī for dinner. The complaint was that a part of the story where the family buy and kill hens to cook in the hāngī was unsuitable for children. The Authority acknowledged the story contained challenging themes on where meat comes from and that some of the descriptions, including the hens in cages, and being pulled out by the legs and stuffed in boxes, alluded to possible mistreatment of the animals....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about language used in a Seven Sharp interview with Neil Finn. At two separate points in the interview, presenter Jeremy Wells and Finn referred to another band member as ‘a GC’ and a ‘good [beep]’; and later Finn quoted a review of his own album, which said, ‘red card, you [beep]’. The Authority found the broadcast was unlikely to cause widespread disproportionate offence or distress, and unlikely to adversely affect child viewers, taking into account: Seven Sharp is an unclassified news and current affairs programme targeted at adults (during which adult supervision is expected); the content was consistent with audience expectations of Seven Sharp and Jeremy Wells; Wells and Finn had the right to express themselves in language of their choosing (within the boundaries of the standards); and all uses of the c-word were appropriately censored....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that the repetitive use of ‘fuck’ in an episode of 7 Days broadcast at 8. 30pm, breached the good taste and decency and children’s interests standards. In this context, the language used would not have caused audiences undue offence or harm and it was not beyond what viewers would reasonably expect from the programme. The programme was adequately signposted to enable audiences to protect children. Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency and Children’s Interests...

The Authority did not uphold a complaint about a Newshub Live at 6pm item on the Paralympics depicting a hug between sisters Lisa Adams and Dame Valerie Adams. The complaint was that the broadcast breached the good taste and decency, children’s interests, and law and order standards as the Paralympics occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst various physical distancing restrictions were in force. The Authority found the item did not breach the standards specified as it did not encourage non-compliance with COVID-19 restrictions, nor was it likely to cause widespread undue offence, or harm to children watching. Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests, Law and Order...

The Authority declined to determine a complaint about a news item featuring an eleven year old boy who won a trip to go to a Rugby World Cup 2019 game in Japan with Richie McCaw. The Authority was unable to identify any elements in the broadcast that would raise any concerns under the standards raised. The Authority declined to determine the complaint on the basis it was frivolous and trivial.   Decline to determine: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests, Violence, Alcohol, Accuracy...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint under several standards in relation to a segment on The Project. In the broadcast, comedian Justine Smith joked about throwing a half-eaten apple at anti-abortion protesters. The complainants alleged the segment was offensive, promoted violence and criminal activity, and discriminated against anti-abortion protesters. The Authority found that while the statements may have been offensive to some – in the context of the broadcast as a whole, taking into account audience expectations of the show, and the lack of any specific call to act – the alleged harm caused by the broadcast did not reach the thresholds required to restrict the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression under any of the nominated standards. Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests, Violence, Law and Order, and Discrimination and Denigration...

The Authority declined to determine a complaint about a promo of The Project as the complainant is responsible for identifying the programme the subject of his complaint1 and his complaint did not appear to relate to the identified broadcast content. Declined to determine: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests, Discrimination and Denigration...

Warning: This decision contains content that some readers may find distressing. On 15 March 2019 a special 1 News broadcast covered the terrorist attacks on two Christchurch mosques. The broadcast featured footage of victims being taken into hospital, many of whom had visibly sustained gunshot injuries and/or were identifiable. The Authority did not uphold two complaints that the coverage breached the privacy standard. The Authority found that media coverage of this event had high public interest in light of the unprecedented nature of extreme violence that occurred. The media had an important role to play in informing the public of events as they unfolded, including the nature and scope of injuries suffered and the action of first responders, including medical personnel. The Authority acknowledged that the repeated use of footage of identifiable victims amounted to a breach of privacy but found that the public interest defence applied....

The Authority has declined to determine a complaint about a news item on RNZ National. The item included a brief comment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his first televised address following the deaths of key Hamas leaders which the complainant alleges was in breach of multiple standards. The Authority declined to determine the complaint finding it relates to a matter of editorial discretion/personal preference and identified no harm sufficient to outweigh the right to freedom of expression. Declined to Determine under s 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children's Interests, Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour, Discrimination and Denigration, Balance and Fairness...

A 10-second promo for the movie Challengers, broadcast during an episode of Hyundai Country Calendar, showed a teenage girl kissing two teenage boys in succession (all clothed). The Authority did not uphold a complaint the promo breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards. The promo’s content did not go beyond Country Calendar’s PG classification: the visual depiction of the teenagers’ interactions was brief, not graphic, and limited to kissing; and any sexual innuendo was low-level. Overall, the broadcast was not inappropriate for supervised child viewers, nor was it likely to offend a significant number of viewers generally. Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children’s Interests...

This complaint concerns a competition promo for Vince during ThreeNews including scenes of the main character sitting apparently naked in a bathroom stall and standing with a group of people in front of a banner labelled ‘CASH FOR THE CANCER KIDS’ when his trousers fall down. The Authority did not uphold a complaint the promo breached the children’s interests standard due to nudity, noting Vince’s buttocks and genitals were pixelated and there was no suggestion of sexual behaviour. The Authority found the promo was appropriate for broadcast during an unclassified news programme and did not require an advisory. It also found the promo was unlikely to cause widespread undue offence or distress and did not promote illegal or serious antisocial behaviour. Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children’s Interests, Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour...

Warning: This decision contains language some readers may find offensive.   The Authority has not upheld a complaint under multiple standards about an episode of “It’s Personal with Anika Moa”, including the f-word and other swear words.  In the context, including the ‘colourful language’ warning preceding the broadcast, the Authority found it was unlikely to cause widespread disproportionate offence or distress, and audiences were provided with sufficient opportunity to protect children in their care from hearing inappropriate content.  The Authority also found the swearing was unlikely to promote the behaviours contemplated under the promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour standard. Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children’s Interests, Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour...

The Authority has not upheld complaints that action taken by Radio New Zealand Ltd was insufficient, after the broadcaster upheld the complaints under the accuracy standard about a statement in a news bulletin that a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice had found Israel ‘not guilty of genocide. ’ While the Authority agreed with the broadcaster’s decision to uphold the complaints, it found RNZ had taken sufficient steps in response to the complaints, by broadcasting an on-air correction within a reasonable period after the bulletin at issue, as well as posting a correction to its website. Other standards alleged to have been breached by the broadcast were found either not to apply or not to have been breached. Not Upheld: Accuracy (Action Taken), Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children’s Interests, Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour, Discrimination and Denigration, Balance, Fairness...

The Authority has upheld a complaint that promos for Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Paper Dolls and The Playboy Murders broadcast during family movie Scoob! breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards, and that action taken by the broadcaster in response to the complaint was insufficient. The Authority found that, viewed cumulatively, the promos went beyond expectations of the host programme and its PG-VL classification, and scheduling them during Scoob! meant the broadcaster did not enable child viewers to be protected from potentially unsuitable content. The Authority did not make any orders, however, finding publication of the decision was sufficient to publicly notify and remedy the breach and to provide guidance to the broadcaster and broadcasters generally. Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children’s Interests (Action Taken) No Order...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that broadcasting the film Jason Bourne at 7. 30pm breached the offensive and disturbing content and children’s interests standards, due to violent opening scenes. The Authority found the scenes did not feature violence exceeding the film’s ‘MV’ rating (suitable for mature audiences 16 years and over and containing violence that might offend viewers) and was therefore suitable to be broadcast at 7. 30pm, during children’s normally accepted viewing times. Further, the broadcaster had sufficiently signposted the nature of the programme, by showing the classification and advisory before the film started, and again after every ad break. Parents and caregivers were therefore adequately apprised of the nature of the film in order to make informed viewing choices for children in their care....

The Authority did not uphold a complaint that a Newshub report regarding government employees accessing pornographic sites while at work breached the good taste and decency and children’s interests standards. The Newshub report included images of web addresses for the sites accessed. The Authority noted the public interest in the prevalence of, and harm caused by, pornography and considered that the content was within audience expectations for the news. In the context, the item was unlikely to cause widespread offence or undermine community standards and unlikely to adversely affect child viewers. Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests...

The Authority has declined to determine a complaint under the good taste and decency, children’s interests and accuracy standards, about a fictional character’s description of milk in an episode of Saturday Storytime. The Authority declined to determine the complaint on the basis it was trivial and did not raise any issues of broadcasting standards at a level which warranted consideration. Declined to Determine: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests, Accuracy (section 11(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 – trivial)...

 The Authority has upheld a complaint that a promo for The Shallows shown during Finding Dory breached the children’s interests standard. The Authority found that the promo, which featured sinister and scary shark related content, was inappropriate for a child audience which would likely have been disturbed or alarmed by it. The Authority noted the importance of scheduling and editing promos for AO programmes appropriately, taking into account the classification of the host programme, and also the time of broadcast, target and likely audience of the host programme, and audience expectations. In considering the contextual factors, the Authority also found that the promo did not meet the G classification of the host programme. The Authority made no orders, and determined that the publication of the decision was sufficient to publicly notify and remedy the breach and would provide appropriate guidance to the broadcaster and to broadcasters generally....

Warning: This decision discusses issues of sexual abuse of children and suicide. The Authority has not upheld a complaint that documentary 1 Special: The Lost Boys of Dilworth was inaccurate by not mentioning the denomination or titles of school chaplains involved in sexual abuse of students, or a complaint that the inclusion of re-enactments of memories of survivors re-traumatised victims of abuse, promoted sexual offending against children, breached privacy and was unfair to child actors involved. The Authority found that omission to mention the denomination or title of chaplains would not have materially altered the audience’s understanding of the documentary. The Authority also found that the inclusion of re-enactments did not breach the standards nominated, noting in particular that audience members (including survivors of abuse) were given appropriate information to make informed viewing decisions, no re-enactment depicted sexual violence and the offending of paedophiles was condemned throughout....