BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

---

Summary

An item on Holmes, broadcast on TV One on 12 February 1999 beginning at 7.00pm, referred to a contest "to conceive the first child of the new millennium". The presenter commented on "this first child of 2000", in describing the contest.

Mr Butchart complained to Television New Zealand Limited, the broadcaster, that the statements were totally untrue. He said the next millennium began with the beginning of 2001, just as the first millennium began with 0001, and the second began with 1001. He sought a correction of what he called the untrue statements.

TVNZ responded that it was accurate to reflect the fact that by broad popular consensus, the world (or that part of it which used the Christian calendar) would mark the birth of the new millennium as midnight passed on the last day of 1999. It declined to uphold the complaint.

Dissatisfied with TVNZ’s decision, Mr Butchart referred his complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under s.8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.

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

Decision

The members of the Authority have viewed a tape of the items complained about, and have read the correspondence listed in the Appendix. On this occasion, the Authority determines the complaint without a formal hearing.

Mr Butchart complained to TVNZ about an aspect of an item broadcast on Holmes on 12 February 1999. The item referred to a contest to find the first baby born in the new millennium. In referring to the contest, the item used the statements "a once in a thousand year opportunity to conceive the first child of the new millennium", and "this first child of 2000".

The statements were clear that the next millennium began with the beginning of the year 2000, Mr Butchart wrote. Since the new millennium began with the beginning of the year 2001, just as the first millennium began with 0001, and the second began with 1001, the statements were totally untrue, he said. Broadcasting standards required truth and accuracy, he stressed, and he requested that the broadcaster correct the untrue statements.

TVNZ considered the complaint in the context of standard G1 of the Television Code of Broadcasting Practice. It requires broadcasters:

G1  To be truthful and accurate on points of fact.

In its response, TVNZ wrote that it was accurate to reflect the fact that by broad popular consensus, the world (or that part of it that used the Christian calendar) would mark the birth of the new millennium as midnight passed on the last day of this year.

The broadcaster said that it understood Mr Butchart’s calculation, and accepted that it made sense but pointed out that the calculation was based on a date that was wrong. TVNZ said historians had agreed that the sixth century calculations which established the birth date of Christ, and thus the beginning of the first millennium, were wrong. It pointed out that under this thesis the third millennium actually began in 1995 or 1996. TVNZ also pointed to some other historical changes to time which, it said, indicated "the arbitrariness of the occasion". Thus, it concluded, its view of the millennium was that it was not so much a historical moment in time, as an occasion for celebration and reassessment. TVNZ declined to find a breach of standard G1.

In referring his complaint to the Authority, Mr Butchart emphasised that it was not his calculation that the new millennium did not start until 2001. It "is simply an obvious fact, a matter of truth and accuracy", he wrote. Mr Butchart complained that he was annoyed at the cavalier attitude to the truth shown by some media people. He enclosed a number of documents setting out his basis for advancing a different date for the commencement of the third millennium, the calculations attaching to that date, and the origins of the Christian era.

When invited to comment, TVNZ advised that it had nothing further to add to its earlier response to Mr Butchart.

The Authority’s Findings

The issue raised on this occasion was considered by the Authority in an earlier decision (1997-013, dated 13.2.97). The Authority declined to uphold the complaint on that occasion, and reaches a similar decision on this occasion.

The Authority is of the view that mathematical arguments as to the start of the next millennium are incidental to the celebration of the change in numbers from 1999 to 2000. It considers that TVNZ is justified in accepting the widespread consensus on when the celebrations will occur.

With reference to standard G1, the Authority concludes that it is not contravened as it does not accept that it is its task to decide on the issue of whether it is factually accurate to imply that the new millennium begins on 1 January 2000.

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

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Sam Maling
Chairperson
29 April 1999

Appendix

The following correspondence was received and considered by the Authority when it determined this complaint:

1. Ian N Butchart’s Complaint to Television New Zealand Limited – 13 February 1999
2. TVNZ’s Response to Ian N Butchart – 23 February 1999
3. Mr Butchart’s Referral to the Broadcasting Standards Authority – 5 March 1999
4. TVNZ’s Response to the Authority – 15 March 1999