Kia ora koutou
With publication of our latest annual report this week, we're taking the opportunity to repeat our call for long-overdue reforms to bring outdated laws and regulations into line with today's broadcasting reality and ensure a sustainable media sector.
The legislation the BSA operates under goes back 34 years, to a time when the world wide web didn't exist. More than three decades on, audiences are migrating at pace from traditional broadcasting via TV and radio to online and digital platforms. In this context, increasingly obsolete legislation is making it harder to achieve our mission.
Low uphold rates for complaints show our co-regulatory standards regime is working well at minimising harm in the traditional broadcasting space. But, increasingly, harm is occurring in unregulated spaces where the BSA and other agencies have no power. Audiences consume media differently now than they did in 1989 – if we are to protect New Zealanders from harmful content and maintain a strong and sustainable media sector, our laws need to change too.
Over the past year, we've offered our expertise to support the progress of proposed law changes that would see the BSA administering a new fair bargaining framework for news media and digital platforms, as well as bringing long-awaited wider reform to the regulatory environment. Reform is needed now more than ever.
Year in reviewOur annual report records a high diversity and complexity of complaints handled in the year to 30 June, while complaint numbers returned to levels nearer long-term averages after a peak driven by COVID-19-related issues. Statistics include:
- The BSA received 169 complaints and issued 121 decisions.
- Seven decisions were upheld and the Authority issued seven orders, both numbers matching those of the previous year.
- Accuracy (81 complaints), balance (60) and fairness (55) attracted the most complaints, with accuracy (up 11%) and fairness (up 12%) rising significantly from the previous year. Discrimination and denigration (45) was the next biggest source of complaints.
- Consistent with recent years, TV (108 complaints, 5 upheld) attracted more complaints than radio (46 complaints, 2 upheld).
- News and current affairs (115 complaints) was the most complained-about programme genre, followed by radio/talkback (18).
Noteworthy complaint themes included the privacy interests of vulnerable individuals; accuracy and balance concerns in reporting about particular organisations/events; and allegations of unfair treatment towards those featured in broadcasts.
With gender identity issues assuming greater prominence, we also dealt with a range of complaints on this subject. These escalated with media coverage of the March 2023 New Zealand visit of Posie Parker, following which the BSA issued
guidance for broadcasters and audiences on the reporting of gender identity issuesopen_in_new based on recent decisions.
Right at the beginning of the 2022/23 year we published a new Code of Broadcasting Standards, following extensive consultation. This introduced a streamlined standards regime, combining the previous codes for radio, free-to-air and pay TV into a single code. This has been positively received by broadcasters and complainants.
You can see our full 2022/23 annual report
hereopen_in_new.
New resource for parents/caregiversWe've partnered with Save the Children to create a new guide for parents, caregivers and teachers on
Children's Rights and Broadcastingopen_in_new.
This new resource is designed to help whānau understand broadcasting standards as they relate to children's interests, along with the tools such as classifications, timebands and filtering technology they can use to ensure safe viewing, and what to do if children encounter upsetting content. This is being promoted to coincide with the marking of World Children's Day and World Television Day this week.
We encourage you to help share this via your networks with others who may find it useful.
TrainingIf your team could do with a refresher on complaints handling and the broadcasting standards system, or if you have new team members to bring up to speed, we can provide tailored interactive sessions online or in person according to your needs. If you'd like to arrange a session please drop us a line at
info@bsa.govt.nz.
Ngā mihi mahana
Stacey Wood
Chief Executive