BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

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Summary

When asked during a radio interview what were her best assets by Paul Vautin, the

broadcaster who was also the coach of the Queensland State of Origin league team,

model Jo Guest took off her State of Origin jersey to reveal her breasts. The exchange

was shown on TV1's Sportsnight broadcast at about 10.55pm on 21 June 1995.

Mr Smits complained to Television New Zealand Ltd that the gratuitous item

exploited women and breached the broadcasting standard requiring good taste and

decency.

Pointing out that Sportsnight was designed to inform and entertain the viewer, TVNZ

agreed that the item might not have been to everyone's taste, but did not accept that it

contravened the standard. Dissatisfied with TVNZ's response, Mr Smits 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 item 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.

Australian radio broadcaster, Paul Vautin (who is also the coach of the Queensland

State of Origin rugby league team), asked his guest, model Jo Guest, what were her

best assets. She took off her State of Origin jersey to reveal her breasts. The exchange

was filmed for television and included as an item in TVNZ's Sportsnight and screened

at about 10.55pm on 21 June.

Mr Smits complained to TVNZ that the item exploited women and was designed to

titillate the male audience. He alleged that the broadcast breached standard G2 of the

Television Code of Broadcasting Practice which requires broadcasters:

G2.  To take into consideration currently accepted norms of decency and

taste in language and behaviour, bearing in mind the context in which

any language or behaviour occurs.

Explaining that Sportsnight's role included informing and entertaining the late night

viewer, TVNZ maintained that the brief item – while not to everyone's taste – was not

indecent.

When he referred the complaint to the Authority, Mr Smits included material which

suggested that the model was a stripper and involved in the soft pornography

industry. In reply, TVNZ asked whether that information meant that she was

inevitably exploited.

As the information about the model shown was not included in the broadcast, the

Authority has assessed his complaint only on the item which was screened. In a brief

shot, a broadcaster was seen to show surprise when his guest took off her jersey. She

replaced it relatively promptly.

Standard G2 requires the Authority to take the context of the broadcast into account.

Given the points that the item was shown late in the evening and focussed on the

model's actions and the broadcaster's reaction, rather than the breasts displayed, the

Authority concluded that the item had not breached the standard.

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

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Judith Potter
Chairperson
21 September 1995

Appendix

Mr Smits' Complaint to Television New Zealand Ltd - 21 June 1995

Phillip Smits of Auckland complained to Television New Zealand Ltd about an item

on TV1's Sportsnight broadcast at approximately 10.55pm on 21 June.

Mr Smits said that the obviously staged item, which showed a partial strip by a

woman being interviewed for radio, was gratuitous and designed to titillate the male

audience. It had involved the exploitation of women and was, he maintained, in breach

of standard G2 of the Television Code of Broadcasting Practice.

TVNZ's Response to the Formal Complaint - 31 July 1995

Assessing the complaint under the nominated standard, TVNZ explained that the item

showed the Queenslanders' coach (Paul (Fatty) Vautin) presenting his popular radio

show after winning the State of Origin league game against New South Wales. TVNZ

said that the brief item was designed to inform and entertain the late night viewer. It

denied that it was indecent.

The woman presenter of Sportsnight, TVNZ noted, had distanced herself from the

item with her comments that the "tacky scenes" were included apparently to boost

the ratings.

TVNZ declined to uphold the complaint.

Mr Smits Complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority - 6 August 1995

Dissatisfied with TVNZ's decision, Mr Smits referred the complaint to the

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

Making the point that he was not concerned about how the presenter dealt with the

item but about good taste and decency, Mr Smits included some material which

suggested that the woman who bared her breasts was a professional stripper. He

referred to that material and suggested that the performance had been done specifically

for television coverage.

Expressing his anger at what he considered to be a pornographic sequence which was

not suitable for Sportsnight, Mr Smits insisted that the item was indecent.

TVNZ's Response to the Authority - 18 August 1995

Expressing disappointment at Mr Smits disparaging comments about Mr Vautier who

had replied on TVNZ's behalf while Mr Edmunds (the Programme Standards

Manager) had been in hospital, TVNZ said it had little to add.

Why, it asked, had Mr Smits included an extract from the "Sunday Star-Times" which

carried the same information contained in the item which was broadcast. It

commented:

If nothing else it demonstrates that TVNZ was not alone in the New Zealand

news media in believing this to be an intriguing snippet of information, worthy

of passing on to our viewers.

As for Mr Smits reference to the model Jo Guest, TVNZ commented:

[Mr Smits] suggests she is manipulated and hints that she is not up to writing

material about herself. We do not know much about Jo Guest either - but is it

not possible that she is a shrewd and well motivated business woman? The

inference that she is putty in the hands of those who would exploit her seems to

us to be quite as insulting to women engaged in modelling work as anything that

Mr Smits has accused TVNZ of doing.

Mr Smits' Final Comment - 26 August 1995

Foregoing the possibility of declining to comment, Mr Smits argued that TVNZ had

not responded to his specific complaint and, he maintained, the broadcast breached the

standard requiring good taste.

Mr Smits questioned the state of TVNZ's Programme Standards Manager's (Mr

Edmunds) health and alleged that he was a propagandist for the pornography

industry. Mr Smits made that comment because some material he enclosed was

written by the model who revealed her breasts (Jo Guest) from a magazine in which

she gave frank advice on sex.