BSA Pānui - October 2018

Number 87

Message from the Chief Executive

Tēnā koutou

October has been a month of change for the BSA. We said farewell to outgoing Chair Peter Radich and Member Te Rau Kupenga, and welcomed our new Chair Judge Bill Hastings and Member Susie Staley to the Authority. We also commenced our website refresh project which responds to feedback many of you have provided to us about how we can make the ‘front door’ to the BSA more accessible and easier to use. We expect our new revitalised website to go live early in 2019.   

Alongside these changes, the Authority issued nine decisions this month. Notably, all but two decisions related to news and current affairs and factual programming. While none of the complaints were upheld, these complaints highlight the high value audiences place on fair, balanced and accurate news reporting and factual programming. The decisions contain guidance on how the broadcasting standards apply and we hope you enjoy reading them.

All the best for the coming month. 

Ngā mihi
Belinda

This Month
In case you missed it, this month we: 

Latest Decisions
The nine decisions issued this month are published on our website, and include: 
Complaints about Free-to-Air Television Broadcasts
The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a Newshub promo that stated ‘over 3 million Kiwis [get their news from Newshub]’ breached the accuracy standard. The complaint was that the promo did not indicate the reference to ‘over 3 million Kiwis’ was a ‘reach’ number (ie a statistical estimate on total audience numbers), and that the omission of information about the source and research methodology used to arrive at the 3-million figure resulted in the promo being misleading. The Authority found the use of the statistic in the promo was unlikely to mislead viewers or significantly affect their understanding of the promo as a whole, taking into account the nature of the promo as a piece of station branding or marketing, rather than a news or current affairs item.

Not Upheld: Accuracy

Read our media release on this decision hereopen_in_new. 
Complaints about Pay Television Broadcasts 

Goodchild and SKY Network Television Ltd - 2018-67 open_in_new

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that an episode of children’s cartoon Shimmer and Shine breached broadcasting standards by promoting gambling to children. The episode focused on the main character’s quest to win tickets in an arcade with the help of her genies so she could get the prize she wanted. The Authority acknowledged there are similarities between arcade games and casinos and acknowledged the complainant’s concerns about the episode in this respect. However the young target audience were unlikely to make that connection, reducing the likelihood of real harm being caused by the programme. The Authority therefore found any restriction on the right to freedom of expression would be unjustified. 

Not Upheld: Children's Interests, Fairness 

Media News

In this section we provide a range of recent publications that are relevant to the broadcasting sector: 

New Zealand 

My Box streaming illegal, High Court rulesopen_in_new

Breaking down the 'attention economy'open_in_new 

Racism and cartoons: where do you draw the line?open_in_new 

Investigative journalism in an age of danger - and Netflixopen_in_new 

Māori radio excellence acknowledgedopen_in_new

UK journalist aims to improve how rural issues are reportedopen_in_new

Kiwi broadband habits reveal growing hunger for online contentopen_in_new 

146 complaints about anti-vaccination billboard upheld by advertising watchdogopen_in_new 

SKY TV launching internet box for all contentopen_in_new

Media firms may hook up with ISPs - Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoiopen_in_new

The data does lie: how Facebook's fake video stats smashed NZ journalismopen_in_new

Could regional TV be on the comeback?open_in_new

International

Ofcom: BBC not doing enough to reach young peopleopen_in_new

The erosion of Hong Kong's free pressopen_in_new

Most people in Japan get news from commercial TV broadcasts, poll findsopen_in_new 

Media companies in campaign for responsible journalismopen_in_new

Biased news media or biased readers? An experiment on trustopen_in_new 

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