Inaccurate 1News reporting of Trump comment breached broadcasting standards
TVNZ breached broadcasting standards in its reporting of comments by President Trump in an item on the arrest of the man suspected of shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found.
The Authority has upheld three complaints that the 1News item, broadcast on 13 September 2025, breached the accuracy standard by misrepresenting the President’s comment, “I couldn’t care less”, in response to a question.
The report’s introduction stated, “[W]hen the President was asked what he’d do to unite the country after this tragedy, he said, ‘I couldn't care less’, blaming the radical left, and vowing to go after political violence”. This was accompanied by a large banner with a photo of Trump and the words, “I couldn’t care less”.
The BSA found this was inaccurate, as Trump actually said: “Well, I’ll tell you something that’s gonna get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less”. It found the obvious interpretation was that the phrase about not caring related to getting in trouble for comments he was about to make. An excerpt of the interview where Trump made this statement was shown later in the broadcast, but the Authority did not consider this resolved the inaccuracy.
Other aspects of the complaints, including under the fairness and balance standards, were not upheld.
The BSA has ordered TVNZ to broadcast a statement on the 6pm edition of 1News summarising upheld aspects of the decision.
The Authority recognised the report, covering an internationally significant event, was newsworthy and carried value and public interest. It also acknowledged TVNZ had indicated the report reflected its genuine interpretation of Trump’s comments. However, it found the potential harm from inaccurate reporting outweighed the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression.
“The broadcast carried the potential to seriously mislead the public about what the President said. In the current divided social and political climate, further care is required in reporting on comments of this nature. Audiences expect news media to report carefully and accurately on statements made by political figures, particularly where that forms the basis for scrutiny or criticism of them,” the BSA said.
“We do not consider the broadcaster made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of its statement and its treatment of Trump’s response in the item’s introduction, noting the broadcast was pre-recorded and the statement’s accuracy was clearly capable of being determined by the broadcaster, given they had the clip of Trump’s full comments.”
TVNZ had argued that similar reporting of the President’s comments by other “respected media providers” was evidence another interpretation was available. However, the Authority did not consider TVNZ’s interpretation was reasonably available.
“We note TVNZ was not simply re-reporting supplied content in this broadcast; it created the introduction and selected the text and images to be used, putting particular emphasis on Trump’s edited quote,” the Authority said.
TVNZ has now accepted the BSA’s decision and advised that the 1News team will use it as an opportunity to review its scripting processes.
ENDS
FURTHER INFORMATION
The full decision can be seen on the BSA website here.
The accuracy standard seeks to protect the public from being significantly misinformed. Broadcasters should make reasonable efforts to ensure news, current affairs or factual content is accurate in relation to all material points of fact and does not mislead. Where a material error of fact has occurred, broadcasters should correct it within a reasonable period.
ABOUT THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY
The BSA is an independent Crown entity that oversees the broadcasting standards regime in New Zealand. It determines complaints that broadcasts have breached standards, undertakes research and oversees the development of broadcasting standards in consultation with broadcasters.
For more information see our website: www.bsa.govt.nz