Lancaster and Radio New Zealand Ltd - 2024-097 (22 April 2025) open_in_new
The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a broadcast on Radio New Zealand National’s Saturday Morning breached the balance, accuracy, and fairness standards. The broadcast was an interview of a UNICEF spokesperson and humanitarian worker about her experience living and working in Lebanon amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah conflict. The Authority found the broadcast was clearly signalled as being from the interviewee’s perspective and was not claiming nor intending to be a balanced examination of perspectives on the conflict. The audience also could reasonably be expected to be aware of significant context and viewpoints from other media coverage. Regarding accuracy, the Authority found the likelihood of a listener being misled by omission of any of the identified perspectives and context was significantly reduced, noting other media coverage of the conflict. The Authority also found not referring to Hamas or Hezbollah as terrorist organisations was not inaccurate, nor material in the context. If the death toll figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry were incorrect, it was not material in the context of the broadcast, and it was reasonable for the broadcaster to rely on such figures. The fairness standard did not apply.
Not Upheld: Balance, Accuracy, Fairness
Kilkenny and Television New Zealand Ltd - 2025-004 (22 April 2025) open_in_new
The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a Seven Sharp segment breached the offensive and disturbing content standard. The complainant alleged co-host Jeremy Wells held a cucumber in a way that could be ‘likened to a man holding an erect penis’. The Authority found any innuendo in Wells’s behaviour was low-level and would not have disproportionately offended or disturbed regular Seven Sharp viewers, noting the segment’s light-hearted tone. The Authority noted adult supervision is expected during news and current affairs programmes and such content did not require an audience advisory.
Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content
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