BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Summary

A strip club in Auckland's Fort Street was featured in items on Newsnight broadcast on

15 and 16 November 1995 about 10.45pm which investigated the claimed increase in

popularity in strip shows in America.

Mr Smits complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the items

lacked balance because they exploited women and promoted the pornography industry.

TVNZ responded that the items attempted to analyse the motivation of the performers

and why people attended strip clubs. It maintained that because they were not

concerned with controversial matters that required debate, they did not require balance.

Dissatisfied with that decision, Mr Smits referred his complaint to the Broadcasting

Standards Authority under s.8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.

For the reasons given below, the Authority declined to determine the complaint in all the

circumstances.

Decision

The members of the Authority have viewed the items complained about and have read

the correspondence (summarised in the Appendix). The Authority has not held a formal

hearing.

Mr Phillip Smits complained that Television New Zealand Ltd's broadcast of items on

Newsnight on 15 and 16 November 1995 were in breach of broadcasting standards.

When TVNZ declined to uphold his complaint he referred it to the Authority.

In Decision Nos: 110/95 and 111/95, the Authority warned Mr Smits that it would

exercise its powers under s.11(b) to decline to determine any complaint in which he

persisted in using personal abuse and objectionable language. Since the content of his

referral to the Authority on this occasion contained material which was gratuitously

offensive, the Authority exercised its discretion and decided to decline to determine the

complaint.

Pursuant to its powers under s.11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989, the

Authority declines to determine the complaint in all the circumstances.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Judith Potter
Chairperson
22 February 1996

Appendix

Phillip Smits' Complaint to Television New Zealand Ltd - 21 November

1995

Newsnight items broadcast by Television New Zealand Ltd on TV2 on 15 and 16

November 1995 reported on strip clubs in Auckland.

Mr Smits of Auckland complained to TVNZ that the broadcasts breached the

requirement in the Code of Practice for balance because they reported on sexual

exploitation and the live pornography industries. He complained that on the first night

the item glamorised the owner of the strip club while on the second night, the strippers

were presented as "ballerinas with attitude".

Mr Smits enclosed copies of the faxes he sent to the producer of the programme after

each broadcast.

TVNZ's Response to the Complaint - 12 December 1995

TVNZ referred to the introduction to each of the items which pointed out that strip

shows were increasing in popularity in America, particularly following two Hollywood

movies which looked behind the scenes and attempted to analyse what the attraction was

for the performers and those who attend the clubs.

The purpose of the items, TVNZ continued, was to determine whether the strip industry

in New Zealand was moving upmarket also. They were not intended to analyse the

pornography industry and the purpose, according to TVNZ, was to allow the viewing

audience to form their own opinion.

In declining to uphold the complaint, TVNZ wrote:

Items such as those screened do not have to show the balance sought by you

because they are not matters of controversy requiring balanced debate. They

show the situation as it is.

Mr Smits' Referral to the Authority - 5 January 1996

Dissatisfied with TVNZ's decision not to uphold his complaint, Mr Smits referred it to

the Broadcasting Standards Authority under s.8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.

Mr Smits rejected TVNZ's suggestion that the strip club industry had gone Ôupmarket'

in the US and claimed that there was no proof that was so.

He then examined the first item in which a club owner was interviewed. Mr Smits

objected to the owner giving his opinion that the strippers enjoyed their work without a

balancing comment from feminists.

The second item featured some of the strippers themselves. Mr Smits argued that the

women were not in a position to criticise the industry because that would have

jeopardised their jobs. However, in his view, they did reveal that they had a low

opinion of their customers.

Mr Smits was critical of the questions asked by the interviewer and suggested that the

women were deliberately cautious in their responses. He accused TVNZ of dishonestly

glamorising the strip club zone and for failing to ask who the villains were in the strip

industry in Auckland.

TVNZ's Response to the Authority - 18 January 1996

When asked to make a response to the referral, TVNZ wrote that it had nothing further

to add. It noted, with disappointment, the tone of the letters faxed by Mr Smits to its

Newsnight producers on the nights the items were screened.