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BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 85/94 Dated the 19th day of September 1994 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by FEMALE IMAGES AND REPRESENTATION IN SPORT TASKFORCE (FIRST) Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED I W Gallaway Chairperson J R Morris R A Barraclough L M Loates...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 19893 News – item reported on likely ban of guided heli-hunting on conservation land – contained file footage of commercial deer recovery – footage allegedly inaccurate, misleading and unfair FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – footage of commercial hunting would have misled viewers to believe that it applied directly to the story – footage should have been explained to ensure that viewers understood it related to commercial hunting which is a completely different industry to heli-hunting – broadcaster did not make reasonable efforts to ensure that the item did not mislead – upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – commercial hunting industry was not an “organisation” for the purposes of the standard – not upheld No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision....

ComplaintMorning Report – presenter stated "To Israel […] and the streets of Bethlehem" – inaccurate FindingsPrinciple 6 – implication that Bethlehem in Israel – inaccurate – uphold No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary [1] On Morning Report broadcast on National Radio on 24 December 2002 at approximately 7. 50am, the presenter stated "To Israel […] and the streets of Bethlehem…". [2] On behalf of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC), David Wakim complained to Radio New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the comment was inaccurate, as Bethlehem was not in Israel. [3] In response, RNZ said that the item was not inaccurate, as there was no assertion on the part of the presenter, or in the item, that Bethlehem was in Israel....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Radio Live – reference to the Arabian Gulf in a news report – allegedly inaccurateFindings Principle 6 (accuracy) – use of the term Arabian Gulf inaccurate – upheldNo OrderThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast[1] During a news item broadcast on Radio Live on 9 April 2007, a reporter used the term “Arabian Gulf” when reporting that a British service woman had been freed after being held hostage for 13 days in Iran. Complaint[2] Babak Mahdavi complained to CanWest RadioWorks Ltd, the broadcaster, that the body of water which separates the Iranian Plateau from the Arabian Peninsula was officially named the “Persian Gulf”, and therefore it was inaccurate to refer to it as the Arabian Gulf....

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....

SummaryThe sum of $90 million had been granted by the government to start a Maori television station, reported the breakfast host of the talkback session broadcast on Radio Pacific between 6. 00–9. 00am on 20 May 1998. He referred to this figure on a number of occasions even when advised by a guest, the Opposition Spokesperson on Broadcasting, that the correct figure was $19 million. Ms Thompson complained to Radio Pacific Ltd that the broadcast was inaccurate, unbalanced, deceptive and failed to respect the principles of partnership between Maori and Pakeha. Explaining that the host was confused between the figure given for the Maori television station and the public broadcasting fee, Radio Pacific upheld the complaint about inaccuracy. It apologised and offered to broadcast an explanatory statement. It declined to uphold any other aspect of the complaint....

Summary [This summary does not form part of the decision. ]Two items broadcast on Te Karere reported on Green MP Marama Davidson’s experiences as part of the ‘Women’s Boat to Gaza’ protest, which aimed to draw attention to Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. The Authority upheld a complaint that the reporter’s reference during the first item to the ‘illegal’ Israeli blockade was inaccurate. The legality of the blockade was a contentious and unresolved issue, with two UN reports taking conflicting positions on the point. The Authority therefore considered that the broadcaster should have qualified its statement with reference to the disputed legality of the blockade, rather than referring to it unequivocally as illegal....

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....

Complaint20/20 – “In Harm’s Way” – item about actions of Child, Youth and Family Services Department – breach of law and order – breach of social workers’ privacy – breach of children’s privacy – unbalanced – inaccurate – unfairFindings Standard 2 – item did not affect “orderly and just disposition” of court cases – hand-over coverage did not glamorise or condone criminal activity – no uphold Standard 3 and Guideline 3a – social workers – Privacy Principle (i) disclosure not offensive – no uphold; Child A & B – Privacy Principle (vii) – best interests of children considered by broadcaster – no uphold Standard 4 – balance of perspectives aired – no uphold Standard 5 – inaccuracy – no mandatory reporting in New Zealand – uphold on this aspect – no other inaccuracies Standard 6 – subsumed under Standard 4No OrderThis headnote does not form part of the decision....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Campbell Live – discussed “the model who can’t go to fashion week because she’s too big” – interviewed the model and her mother as well as the manager of her modelling agency – allegedly unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – item created clear impression that Nova was not putting forward the model for work because of her hip size – viewers would have been misled by the omission of other reasons including the model’s refusal to work for Nova – upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – broadcaster did not deny that Nova’s manager explained the other reasons in his interview – those reasons were not included in the story – unfair – upheld Standard 4 (controversial issues – viewpoints) – story focused on one individual – no discussion of a controversial issue of public importance – not upheld No Order This headnote does not form…...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 3 News – item reported on trials of the ‘Urewera Four’ – reporter referred to original Urewera terror raids and stated that “17 people were arrested and initially charged under the Terrorism Suppression Act” – broadcaster upheld complaint that this statement was inaccurate because no one had been charged under that Act – action taken by the broadcaster allegedly insufficient Findings Action Taken: Standard 5 (accuracy) – action taken by TVWorks was insufficient – error should have been corrected at earliest appropriate opportunity – upheld No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision.  ...

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Close Up – item about timber treatment T1. 2 or TimberSaver – discussed concerns that the product was defective and putting homes at risk – allegedly unbalanced, inaccurate and unfairFindingsStandard 4 (balance) – seen overall, item seriously criticised TimberSaver product – no scientific evidence provided to refute criticisms – no evidence provided of quality and suitability of product – unbalanced – upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – scientist on programme not independent – conflict of interest – contrary to guideline 5e – upheld – other aspects of accuracy complaint not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – seen overall, item unfair to Osmose – upheldOrdersBroadcast of a statement Payment of legal costs of $5,000 Payment of costs to the Crown $2,000This headnote does not form part of the decision....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Radio Pacific – host stated that the BSA had not upheld a complaint from Māori Television about his comments criticising the channel – stated that Māori Television was “apartheid” and “racist” – allegedly inaccurate and denigratoryFindingsPrinciple 6 (accuracy) – inaccurate to state that BSA had not upheld the complaint when it had not yet considered the complaint – inaccurate to refer to Māori Television as Te Karere – upheldPrinciple 7 (social responsibility) and guideline 7a (denigration) – Māori Television not “section of the community” to which denigration standard applies – comments not denigratory of Māori generally – not upheldNo Order This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast[1] On 25 July 2006 at approximately 7....

Māori Television Service (MTS) aired a story on Te Kāea about how hapū Te Parawhau felt they had been shut out of negotiations on the sale of a piece of land, known as Pūriri Park in Northland, to Housing New Zealand (HNZ). The Authority upheld HNZ’s complaint under the balance standard, finding the omission of HNZ’s point of view from the initial broadcast likely prevented audiences from arriving at an informed and reasoned opinion about the sale and HNZ’s involvement. The Authority also upheld HNZ’s complaint under the accuracy and fairness standards, finding that while MTS aired a follow-up broadcast featuring comment from Te Parawhau and HNZ, this broadcast did not remedy the harm caused to HNZ by the initial broadcast of inaccurate information about the land sold....

The Authority has upheld a complaint that comments made by Mike Hosking during his ‘Mike’s Minute’ segment were misleading in breach of the accuracy standard. Mr Hosking made statements referring to death-rate statistics in Italy related to COVID-19, including that ‘99. 2% percent died with underlying health issues. In other words, the very things that were killing them anyway, at over 1,600 per day’. The Authority found the comments were misleading as the broadcaster conflated its own conclusions, drawn from a study into Italy’s COVID-19 figures, with the figure of 1,600 deaths per day, which was based on 2018 population data and ignored both cause of death and the notion of ‘excess mortality’. In this respect, the Authority emphasised the importance of data literacy among broadcasters and journalists, to ensure statistics are not misinterpreted or misrepresented....

Complaint under section 8(1C)(c)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 19893 News – item included results from a political poll – results were shown visually with the use of an on-screen graphic – each party’s percentage of votes was translated into number of seats in the House – ACT Party and the United Future Party shown to receive two seats each – allegedly inaccurate Findings Standard 5 (accuracy) – graphic shown on-screen was inaccurate – upheld No OrderThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on 3 News, broadcast on TV3 at 6pm on 16 December 2007, reported on TV3’s final political poll of 2007. The results of the poll were given verbally and visually with the use of on-screen graphics....