BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

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Summary

An advertisement for Gordons Gin was broadcast on Channel 2 at about 11.15pm on 20

October 1993.

The Secretary of the Group Opposed to Advertising of Liquor (GOAL), Mr Turner,

complained to Television New Zealand Ltd that part of the arrangement which allowed

such liquor advertising on television was not being fulfilled. The part which he referred to

and which is included in the broadcasting standards, requires the broadcast of messages

promoting the no-alcohol option.

In response, TVNZ said that, in compliance with the relevant standard, it screened both

moderation and no-alcohol advertising and it declined to uphold the complaint.

Dissatisfied with TVNZ's decision, GOAL referred the 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 accept the referral of the complaint.

Decision

The members of the Authority have read the correspondence (summarised in the

Appendix). As the complaint does not focus on the Gordons Gin advertisement screened on

20 October but on the alleged absence of no-alcohol messages, there has been no tape for

the members to watch. As is its usual practice, the Authority has determined the

complaint without a formal hearing.

Referring to a liquor advertisement broadcast on 20 October, the Secretary of GOAL, Mr

Cliff Turner, complained to TVNZ that it had not satisfied part of the arrangement which

allowed liquor advertisements on television. That part, which he said was encapsulated in

standard A4 of the of the Programme Standards for the Promotion of Liquor, requires

broadcasters who screen liquor advertisements to broadcast no-alcohol messages as well.

TVNZ assessed the complaint under standard A4 of the Programme Standards which reads:

A4   Broadcasters who broadcast liquor promotion messages have a

responsibility to ensure that air time is made available for the broadcast of

appropriate, credible and professional messages promoting moderation in

alcohol consumption and the no-alcohol option, in accordance with

professional media placement standards, including at peak viewing and

listening times, and any agreement negotiated between the Authority and

broadcasters from time to time.

It reported that it had complied with the standard by broadcasting both moderation and

no-alcohol option messages prepared by the Department of Health, the Ministry of

Transport and the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council. Having met its obligation, it declined

to uphold the complaint.

When he referred GOAL's complaint to the Authority, Mr Turner stressed that he was

referring to "no-alcohol option" messages and he believed that no such messages had been

screened between the introduction of the current standards in mid-May and 20 October.

In response, TVNZ maintained that it had broadcast both "moderation" and "no-alcohol

option" messages. Such messages were not necessarily broadcast at the same time as liquor

advertisements because those advertisements were not permitted at peak viewing times.

Because the complaint was not about the gin advertisement broadcast on 20 October but

an alleged breach of standard A4, TVNZ suggested to the Authority that it might wish to

decline to determine the complaint on the grounds that it was vexatious.

In a previous decision on a GOAL complaint about the absence of no-alcohol messages

(Decision No: 37/92 dated 25 June 1992), the Authority declined to accept the complaint

on the basis that the complaint did not refer to a programme which was broadcast.

Since that decision the standards relating to the promotion of liquor have been revised and

an amendment to the Broadcasting Act has been enacted. Despite the changes, the

Authority accepted that the earlier decision was the basis for TVNZ's submission that the

Authority should decline to determine the complaint. Regardless of the reason for TVNZ's

submission, the Authority disagreed with TVNZ's suggestion that the complaint should be

dismissed as vexatious and it understood Mr Turner's attitude when he described GOAL's

complaint as "serious".

However, on examining the standard, the Authority concluded that GOAL's complaint did

not amount to an allegation that standard A4 had been contravened. Pursuant to that

standard, broadcasters are required to make air time available for the broadcast of

moderation and no-alcohol option messages. GOAL, however, did not complain about the

absence of air time being made available but that TVNZ had not broadcast no-alcohol

option messages. Whereas TVNZ could well have declined to consider the complaint on the

basis that it did not allege a breach of standard A4, it maintained that it had broadcast

such messages.

In view of the obligation imposed on broadcasters in standard A4, the Authority did not

consider it appropriate to deal with the issue of the broadcast, or the absence of the

broadcast, of no-alcohol messages. From the correspondence, it had no reason to believe

that TVNZ had not complied with its obligation to make air time available. Nevertheless,

as the complaint had not raised that issue, the Authority declined to accept the referral.

For the reasons set forth above, the Authority declines to accept the

referral of the complaint that Television New Zealand Ltd had failed to

comply with standard A4 of the Programme Standards for the Promotion of

Liquor.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Iain Gallaway
Chairperson
10 March 1994

Appendix

GOAL's Complaint to Television New Zealand Limited

In a letter dated 21 October 1993, the Secretary of the Group Opposed to Advertising of

Liquor (GOAL), Mr Cliff Turner, complained to Television New Zealand Ltd about an

advertisement for Gordons Gin broadcast on Channel 2 at about 11.15pm on 20 October.

Part of the agreement which allowed television to broadcast liquor advertisements, he

wrote, was the obligation to broadcast messages which promoted the no-alcohol option.

That obligation, he added, was incorporated into standard A4 of the Programme Standards

for the Promotion of Liquor.

Mr Turner concluded:

I have yet to see on TV1 or TV2 any messages promoting the no-alcohol option. It

thus appears that the Gordons Gin advertisement was broadcast in contravention

of Additional Standard A4.

TVNZ's Response to the Formal Complaint

TVNZ advised GOAL of its Complaints Committee's decision in a letter dated 11 November

1993 when it reported the complaint had been assessed under standard A4.

TVNZ assured GOAL that, by running moderation and no-alcohol advertising for the

Department of Health, the Ministry of Transport and the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory

Council, it met and continued to meet its obligations under standard A4. Such

advertisements, it added, were not necessarily broadcast adjacent to liquor advertisements.

Indeed, it added, standard A4 referred to "peak viewing time" as the preferred spot for

moderation and no-alcohol messages which was a time at which liquor advertising was

not allowed.

Having met its obligations, TVNZ declined to uphold the complaint.

GOAL's Complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority

Dissatisfied with TVNZ's response, in a letter dated 16 November 1993 on GOAL's behalf

Mr Turner referred the complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under

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

Questioning whether TVNZ's reply referred to no-alcohol option messages in addition to

moderation ones, Mr Turner expressed the belief that there had been no no-alcohol option

messages as required by standard A4 between mid-May and the broadcast of the Gordons

Gin advertisement on 20 October.

TVNZ's Response to the Authority

As is its practice, the Authority sought the broadcaster's response to the complaint. Its

letter is dated 19 November 1993 and TVNZ's reply, 25 November.

TVNZ began:

In fact this complaint was not about the gin advertisement, but was about what

Mr Turner perceives as an absence of advertisements promoting the no-alcohol

option. He sees this as a breach of Code A4.

Reiterating the point that both moderation and no-alcohol option had been broadcast by

TVNZ as required by the Code, although not side by side, it wrote:

Mr Turner is wrong in his assertion that up until the time of his complaint no

alcohol option messages had been broadcast.

TVNZ concluded by suggesting that the Authority decline to determine the complaint on

the grounds that it was vexatious.

GOAL's Final Comment to the Authority

When asked to comment on TVNZ's reply, in a letter dated 3 December 1993 on GOAL's

behalf Mr Turner enclosed a clipping from the NZ Herald dated 2 November which:

... makes it clear that no-alcohol messages had not been broadcast before that date

A date, Mr Turner observed, later than 20 October which was the date of the Gordons Gin

advertisement complained about.

Noting that the drink-driving advertisement did not in his opinion qualify as a no-alcohol

option message, Mr Turner added:

TVNZ invites the Authority to dismiss the complaint as vexatious. By contrast I

believe that this complaint is the most serious I have ever made.

Referring to the history of no-alcohol option advertisements, and that they were made

compulsory only in May 1993 despite an intention for their broadcast since February

1992, Mr Turner stated:

This slack wording was rectified in May 1993 but no genuine no-alcohol messages

were broadcast until November - a period of more than five months. I believe that

TVNZ has acted very badly in this matter and I am incensed that I am accused of

making a vexatious complaint.