BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

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Summary

X-Files, a programme dealing with events based on the paranormal, was screened on

TV2 at 8.30pm each Wednesday. In the episode broadcast on 22 February, a

malevolent force was set free in a small American town and a number of murders

ensued.

Mr England complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the

violence shown during the programme breached the broadcasting standards.

Pointing out that the programme was classified as AO and that the violence was

implied rather than shown, TVNZ maintained that the violence was not unacceptable

in a story verging on fantasy. Dissatisfied with TVNZ's response, Mr England

referred his complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under s.8(1)(a) of the

Broadcasting Act 1989.

For the reasons below the Authority declined to uphold the complaint.

Decision

The members of the Authority have viewed the programme complained about and

have read the correspondence (summarised in the Appendix). As is its practice, the

Authority has determined the complaint without a formal hearing.

Mr England complained to TVNZ that at 8.50pm, during an episode of X-Files

broadcast between 8.30–9.30pm, a graphic murder had been depicted "with all the

usual grotesque violence one normally associates with American TV". The broadcast

breached the standards relating to violence and, he continued, was another example of

TVNZ's practice of screening graphic violence in the early evening.

TVNZ assessed the complaint under standard VI of the Television Code of

Broadcasting Practice which reads:

V1  Broadcasters have a responsibility to ensure that any violence shown is

justifiable, ie is essential in the context of the programme.

Explaining that the X-Files series dealt with the paranormal, TVNZ stated that the

episode complained about was a science fiction story about a malevolent force set free

in a small American town. In that context, TVNZ argued, where the story verged on

fantasy and was thus far removed from everyday experiences, the level of violence

was not unacceptable.

With regard to the particular scene referred to by Mr England, TVNZ said that the

violence was implied rather than shown, adding:

The scene depicts the killing of a garage mechanic and what the viewer sees  

is a scuffle in near darkness, with the actual blow not being shown.

Moreover:

A subsequent incident in a kitchen in which a woman is shot [violence] is

similarly implied rather than shown.

Mr England referred to the Authority his complaint about this broadcast along with

his complaints about the broadcast of the film, The Accused, and the mini-series,

Murder in the Heartland. They were each examples, he wrote, of TVNZ's "constant

depiction of gross violence" in programmes beginning at 8.30pm.

As different considerations apply to each programme, the Authority has issued

separate decisions for each one. The other decisions are The Accused, No: 41/95 and

Murder in the Heartland, No: 42/95.

In its response to the Authority on the referral of the complaint about the broadcast

of X-Files, TVNZ raised the possibility that Mr England was airing a matter of viewer

preference to which the complaints process did not apply. If that was the

Authority's decision, it suggested that it was appropriate for the Authority to decline

to determine the complaint.

Having read the correspondence relating to the these complaints, the Authority was in

no doubt about Mr England's reasons for them. Although he did not refer to specific

details of each programme in any length, his complaints focussed on the violence

shown in each one as an alleged breach of the standards. They were not matters of

viewer preference and, accordingly, the Authority determined the complaint.

As for the programme itself, TVNZ wrote:

We affirm once again that the programme was aimed at an adult audience and

was clearly classified as an "AO" programme. Given the definition of "AO"

Material we do not accept that it was unsuitable for persons over the age of

eighteen.

We emphasise that this was not children's viewing time, and that viewers have a

responsibility to take note of programme classifications. If they do not, what

purpose does it serve to display them?

In its consideration of the complaint, the Authority acknowledged TVNZ's point that

the violence dealt with in the programme was not visually graphic. Nevertheless, it

noted on the one hand that a theme of violence was apparent throughout the

programme's tone. On the other hand, it did not agree with Mr England that the

violence – either visually or in tone – could be described as "grotesque". The

Authority also disagreed with TVNZ that the elements of fantasy overrode

considerations of reality. While the motives for the violent behaviour were not based

in the real world, the behaviour itself (such as shooting at students on a campus from a

high tower) dealt with situations which could, and have, occurred in reality. In the

Authority's opinion, while the broadcast included elements of science fiction, the

programme included sufficient aspects of reality to accept that it could not be passed

off as "fantasy".

Having reached these preliminary conclusions, the Authority then considered whether

the broadcast breached standard V1 – ie was the violence shown essential to the

programme's context? The programme was classified AO and broadcast at an AO

time. The AO (Adults Only) classification reads:

Programmes containing adult themes or those which, because of the way the

material is handled, would be unsuitable for persons under 18 years of age.

AO programmes can be broadcast between 8.30pm–5.00am and from 12.00 noon–

3.00pm on weekdays (other than school or public holidays).

Mr England's complaint could be taken as arguing that the watershed (8.30pm) is too

early and that it should be 9.00 or 9.30pm. Because of its decision on this complaint

(and the complaints determined in Decision Nos: 41/95 and 42/95) the Authority

considered that the question of an appropriate hour for the watershed should be

deferred pending a decision expected in several weeks on a complaint which raised the

same issue in relation to a series of films broadcast at 8.30pm on TV2 in mid February

1995.

With regard to the broadcast of the X-Files the Authority was required to decide

whether the violence portrayed was essential in a programme classified as AO and

broadcast in AO time. On the bases that the violence contained in the programme was

implied rather than screened and that there were elements of science fiction, the

Authority concluded that the violence shown did not breach the standards given the

matters dealt with in the programme.

For the reasons above, the Authority declines to uphold the complaint.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Iain Gallaway
Chairperson
29 May 1995

Appendix

R J England's Complaint to Television New Zealand Ltd - 22 February 1995

Mr Richard England of Wellington complained to Television New Zealand Ltd about

the programme shown during the evening of 22 February at 8.30pm on TV2.

Noting that at 8.50 the programme included a "graphic" murder with "grotesque"

violence, Mr England said that he objected to:

TVNZ's persistent and ongoing depiction of graphic violence in the early

evening.

He considered that TVNZ, by showing such programmes, indicated that it did not

intend to reduce the amount of violence portrayed and that it continued to flout the

Broadcasting Standards Authority's strictures.

TVNZ's Response to the Formal Complaint - 20 March 1995

TVNZ advised Mr England that its Complaints Committee had considered his

complaint about X-Files, which was shown on TV2 at 8.30pm on 22 February, under

standard V1 of the Television Code of Broadcasting Practice.

TVNZ said the specific incident complained about implied violence rather than

explicitly showing it, observing:

The scene depicts the killing of a garage mechanic and what the viewer sees is a

scuffle in near darkness, with the actual blow not being shown.

A little later in the kitchen scene, TVNZ reported, it was implied - rather than shown

- that a woman was shot. TVNZ also explained the nature of the programme:

It was the [Complaints] Committee's view that in the context of a science

fiction story about a malevolent force set free in a small American town, the

level of violence in the programme was not unacceptable. An important

contextual consideration is the fact that the story verges on fantasy and is thus

far removed from everyday experience.

Taking into account the point that the "science fiction yarn with an intriguing

environmental twist at the end" had an "AO" certificate and was not unsuitable for

viewers over the age of 18 years, TVNZ declined to uphold the complaint.

Mr England's Complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority - 22 March

1995

Dissatisfied with TVNZ's response, Mr England referred this complaint and two

similar ones to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under s.8(1)(a) of the

Broadcasting Act 1989.

Expressing his deep concern at TVNZ's "constant depiction of gross violence" in

programmes beginning at 8.30pm, Mr England argued that TVNZ showed disdain

towards viewers.

The three programmes shown by TVNZ referred to the Authority, Mr England

maintained, should not have been broadcast at 8.30pm.

TVNZ's Response to the Authority - 30 March 1995

Noting that Mr England's referral of this complaint to the Authority contained little

new material, TVNZ pointed to the subjective nature of his comments. As it

considered that the complaint amounted to an expression of the viewer's preference, it

suggested that it was not capable of resolution through the complaints procedure.

TVNZ repeated that the scene complained about consisted for the most part of a

scuffle in near darkness, that the programme was classified "AO" and was not

broadcast in children's viewing time.

Mr England's Final Comment

Mr England did not respond to the Authority's request for a comment on TVNZ's

report to the Authority.