Thornton and Television New Zealand Ltd

Thornton and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1994-011

Members

I W Gallaway (Chair)
J R Morris
L M Dawson
R A Barraclough

Dated

10 March 1994

Complainant

David Thornton

Number

1994-011

Programme

Bread and Roses

Broadcaster

Television New Zealand Ltd

Channel/Station

TVNZ 1

Standards

Free-to-air TV Code: Controversial Issues - Viewpoints

Summary

The fourth and final part of Bread and Roses was broadcast on TV One at 8.40pm on

Sunday 24 October 1993. The series recounted the early life of Labour Party politician,

Ms Sonja Davies.

Mr Thornton complained to Television New Zealand Ltd that to broadcast the programme

during an election campaign in which Ms Davies was campaigning on behalf of the

Labour Party was a breach of the broadcasting standards.

Pointing out that the important series was linked to Suffrage Year, TVNZ said that the

programme dealt with issues which were not matters of current controversy and it

declined to uphold the complaint. Dissatisfied with TVNZ's decision, Mr Thornton 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 uphold the complaint.

Decision

The members of the Authority have watched 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.

The four part series Bread and Roses was broadcast by TVNZ on successive Sunday evenings

from 3–24 October 1993. The series recounted part of the early life of Sonja Davies

who, after the period covered in the series, had been an executive member of the

Federation of Labour and a Labour Party Member of Parliament. Parts of the series were

broadcast during the lead up to the general election on 6 November 1993 although Ms

Davies, who had retired in 1993, was not standing for re-election.

Before the broadcast of the final two parts on 17 and 24 October 1993, Mr Thornton

urged TVNZ to suspend the broadcast in view of the potential impact on voters. TVNZ

declined to follow his advice and, following the broadcast of the final programme on 24

October, Mr Thornton complained formally to TVNZ that the broadcast of that

programme breached standard G6 of the Television Code of Broadcasting Practice. It

requires broadcasters:

G6 To show balance, impartiality and fairness in dealing with political matters,

current affairs and all questions of a controversial nature.

The broadcast contravened the standard, Mr Thornton maintained, because Ms Davies

and the theme song from the series had been used in the Labour Party election campaign.

The combination of that material, he continued, could well have influenced voters. He

added that TVNZ's refusal to postpone the broadcasts reinforced his belief that TVNZ had

not acted in a fair, impartial and balanced way.

In its response, TVNZ pointed out that the events portrayed in the programme – the

women's protest over the closure of the Nelson railway – had occurred before Ms Davies'

career as a Member of Parliament and, furthermore, she had since retired from

Parliament. TVNZ also referred to the way political parties could cynically exploit popular

trends, events and issues, noting that the National Party had adopted the Heartland theme

from a series of programmes with the same name.

TVNZ also referred to logistical reasons for wanting the programme to be screened at the

time that it was broadcast and concluded by asking whether standard G6 was applicable as

it was directed at "current" controversial issues.

Should the standard be inapplicable, there would be no complaint for the Authority to

determine and, as a result, it decided to deal with this point first. Had the sole issue raised

in the complaint been the closure of the Nelson railway, the Authority accepted that

standard G6 could well have been inapplicable. Although the standard does not restrict

itself to current issues and controversial questions, when read in conjunction with the

companion requirement for balance in s.4(1)(d) of the Broadcasting Act which refers to

the "period of current interest", a case could be made for confining the balance provisions

in the standards to "current affairs".

However, the closure of the Nelson railway was not the matter in dispute. The

complainant alleged that it was unbalanced to broadcast a series which dealt

sympathetically with an active – if recently retired – well-known Labour Member of

Parliament during a general election campaign when political issues were a matter of high

public interest.

The Authority acknowledges the logistical pressures which apply to broadcasters and, in

regard to the present complaint, the determination to ensure that the series was broadcast

in Suffrage Year. However, its task regarding complaints is to assess whether or not the

standards are complied with. This means that programming requirements must take

second place.

There is one other matter to be considered, and disposed of, before dealing with the specific

complaint. TVNZ referred to the National Party's adoption of the Heartland theme to

which Mr Thornton responded by arguing that it did not affect his complaint. The

Authority agreed with Mr Thornton that it did not affect his complaint about the

broadcast of Bread and Roses on 24 October.

In regard to that broadcast, the Authority was required to decide whether it breached the

obligation on broadcasters to show balance, impartiality and fairness. As Mr Thornton

pointed out, the programme which dealt with a women's protest about the closure of the

Nelson railway which:

... clearly portrayed the situation of a Labour Party activist taking on a National

Government and enjoying widespread support and sympathy for her action.

With the addition that the protest was organised by and featured women, the Authority

would agree with Mr Thornton's description of the event portrayed.

Stating that many people would remember the events, Mr Thornton added:

I believe that such recollections would have been enhanced by seeing Sonja Davies

taking part in the Labour Party political broadcasts, and that combination may

have affected the voting intentions of some people. I also believe that the content

of the programme, showing a Labour/National confrontation, and featuring an

active Labour politician could have had a subliminal effect on people who were not

necessarily previously aware of the Sonja Davies story.

Although substantially agreeing with the description of the events portrayed, the

Authority was not prepared to accept Mr Thornton's conclusion about the probable impact

of the series on voters in the 1993 general election.

At one level, it could be argued that Ms Sonja Davies and the names of the political parties

involved were the only matters the Nelson railway closure and the 1993 general election

had in common. Both named political parties would accept that policies and practices had

changed dramatically during that time. It should be added, for example, that neither

party (nor any of the other parties which contested the election) argued for the

restoration of the Nelson railway.

Moreover, Ms Davies' life had been described in the book Bread and Roses and a film

version of her early life had been released before the broadcast of the series on television.

Her life history was thus a matter, the Authority considered, which would have been

widely familiar before the broadcast of the programme complained about.

During a general election campaign broadcasters must be particularly alert to the

possibility of broadcasting material which might jeopardise the standards However, this

does not mean that all possible broadcasts with political overtones, however tangential,

need to be deferred.

The programme complained about was of minor relevance to the 1993 campaign and it

focussed primarily on an historical controversial matter which it used to illustrate the

career of one notable New Zealand woman. Accordingly, the Authority did not accept

that TVNZ, by its broadcast, breached the requirement in standard G6 to show balance,

impartiality and fairness.

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

complaint.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Iain Gallaway
Chairperson
10 March 1994

Appendix

Mr Thornton's Complaint to Television New Zealand Limited

After some correspondence with Television New Zealand Ltd before the broadcast of the

item later complained about in which he urged that the broadcast be deferred until after

the forthcoming general election, in a letter dated 12 November 1993 Mr Thornton of

Auckland complained formally about the broadcast of the final part of Bread and Roses at

8.40pm on TV One on Sunday 24 October.

He recorded that the series dealt with part of the life of Sonja Davies, a Labour Member of

Parliament who had retired at the recent election. He pointed out that Ms Davies had

been involved in campaigning for the Party during the election and that the theme music

from the series had been used during the campaign. Noting that the Nelson railway

incident referred to during the final episode took place less than 40 years ago and had

portrayed sympathy for Ms Davies as a Labour Party activist during the confrontation

with the National Party, Mr Thornton argued that the material could have influenced

some people's voting intentions.

Maintaining that the broadcast breached standard G6 of the Television Code which

requires balance, impartiality and fairness, Mr Thornton expressed his belief that TVNZ's

decision to broadcast the programme, despite his request to the contrary, reinforced his

complaint that TVNZ had contravened the standard requiring balance during an election

period.

TVNZ's Response to the Formal Complaint

TVNZ advised Mr Thornton of its Complaints Committee's decision in a letter dated 16

December 1993.

Noting that the episode broadcast on 24 October primarily dealt with Ms Davies'

involvement in the women's protest over the closure of the Nelson railway, TVNZ

acknowledged that the Labour party might have cynically exploited the series by involving

the retired Ms Davies in pre-election advertising. However, it believed that it would not

have been any greater exploitation that the National Party's adoption of the Heartland

theme for its campaign, stating:

Political parties have always latched on to popular trends, events and issues at

election time to press home their political messages.

TVNZ described Bread and Roses as an important mini-series which could not be broadcast

earlier for contractual reasons but which it wanted to broadcast as soon as possible to

avoid the pre-Christmas demands but still to be linked to Suffrage Year.

In addition, TVNZ wondered if the standard nominated by Mr Thornton was applicable as

it applied to "political matters, current affairs and to all questions of a controversial

nature". It could be argued, TVNZ continued, that the series was none of these as:

It is, after all, the dramatised life story of a famous New Zealander and as such

cannot be regarded as current affairs, nor a matter of current controversy. Politics

were certainly a part of Ms Davies life, but the programme ends as her political

career begins and no current political matters are dealt with.

While expressing regret that Mr Thornton was upset, TVNZ said the programme made no

political statement which was likely to influence the election and, accordingly, declined to

uphold the complaint.

Mr Thornton's Complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority

Dissatisfied with TVNZ's decision, in a letter dated 21 January 1994 Mr Thornton referred

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

Act 1989.

Pointing to TVNZ's acknowledgement that the Labour Party might have cynically exploited

the programme, Mr Thornton argued that the broadcast breached standard G6. With

regard to the Heartland series, Mr Thornton said he did not believe that any had been

broadcast during the campaign:

... but it is being suggested that the National Party exploited that programme, then

surely that does not affect the situation arising from my complaint.

In response to the time constraints mentioned by TVNZ, Mr Thornton said that the final

episode could have been broadcast on 7 November - the day after the election - which was

well before Christmas and still in Suffrage Year.

TVNZ's Response to the Authority

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

letter is dated 24 January 1994 and TVNZ's reply, 8 February.

Referring to the variety of material in the media which could influence a voter (from

radio talkback to letters to the editor in the press), TVNZ maintained:

We believed then, and believe now, that the broadcast of this programme had no

impact at all on the outcome of the election and that it would have showed less

than proper respect for the intelligence of our viewers to delay screening the final

episode of this popular series on the pretence that it might.

Mr Thornton's Final Comment to the Authority

When asked for a brief final comment in response, in a letter dated 24 February 1994, Mr

Thornton maintained his opinion that people could be, and were, influenced by what they

saw on television. It was a powerful medium of communication.

Because of the impact of television broadcasts, he believed that material which might

influence voters - other than specific political broadcasts and election news - should be

banned during election campaigns. Such material which he would accept, as with radio

talkbacks and newspaper editorials, was clearly identified as political opinion. Bread and

Roses, on the other hand, was a story about the early days of a well-known Labour Party

politician actively involved in that Party's re-election campaign.

Noting TVNZ's acknowledgement that political parties could exploit popular trends, he

pointed out that he had brought his concern about the programme to the broadcaster's

attention before the item had been broadcast. He concluded:

By broadcasting Bread and Roses I believe that TVNZ gave an unfair advantage to

the Labour Party and therefore failed to act impartially during the election

campaign which was surely both a political matter and a current affair on 24

October.

Broadcasting Standards Authority

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY

Decision No: 11/94

Dated the 10th day of March 1994

IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989

AND

IN THE MATTER of a complaint by

DAVID THORNTON

of Auckland

Broadcaster

TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND

LIMITED

I.W. Gallaway Chairperson

J.R. Morris

R.A. Barraclough

L.M. Dawson

DECISION