BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Summary  

[This summary does not form part of the decision.] 

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a 1News segment on various extreme weather events in the United States breached the accuracy standard on the basis it did not refer to the climate crisis as a causative factor. The Authority found not mentioning the climate crisis did not give a wrong idea or impression of the events depicted and would not have misled viewers. Whether or not to mention climate change was a matter for the broadcaster’s editorial discretion.

Not Upheld: Accuracy

The broadcast

[1]  A segment on 1News, broadcast on TVNZ 1 on 9 July 2024, reported on extreme weather events in the United States. The item discussed:

• A ‘long-running heatwave’ plaguing many parts of the country. Temperatures reached as high as 50°C in Death Valley, where a motorcyclist died due to heat exposure. Extreme temperatures were also believed to have caused at least four deaths in Oregon.
• Wildfires spreading in California and Utah, causing nearly 150 million Americans to be under heat alerts.
• Tropical storm Beryl, recently downgraded from a hurricane at the time of reporting. It caused torrential rain and extensive flooding in Texas, with falling trees killing at least four people in the Houston area.

The complaint

[2]  Matt Greene complained the broadcast breached the accuracy standard of the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand. He submitted:

• The events reported were ‘historic’, and the tropical storm was ‘the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record’. Also, ‘2023 was the hottest year on record and 2024 is on track to be hotter.’
• The events reported therefore need to ‘be stated as being directly caused by the climate crisis. Omitting explicit links to the climate crisis cannot be justified’.
• Climate change is a pressing issue that necessitates “urgent and bold action” and “explicit links to all extreme weather events”.

The broadcaster’s response

[3]  TVNZ did not uphold the complaint for the following reasons:

• Not including explicit links to the climate crisis cannot reasonably be deemed misleading to the audience.
• ‘…contemporary New Zealand society is widely accepting of the conclusion that humans, particularly since the industrial revolution, have had a significant and ongoing effect on global climates, and that an overwhelming majority of scientists believe this will, at current industrial trajectories, result in more frequent and severe weather events.’
• The item was simply reporting on contemporary weather events and ‘did not make any comparisons to previous years or trends, nor did it discuss climate change. These are matters of editorial discretion.’
• The reported incidents were ‘not specifically attributed to anthropogenic climate change’, but that presumption is one which TVNZ considered ‘many viewers would adopt’.
• 1News ‘frequently reports on issues concerning global climate change’.

The standard

[4]  The accuracy standard¹ requires broadcasters to make reasonable efforts to ensure news, current affairs and factual content is accurate in relation to all material points of fact and does not materially mislead.

Our findings

[5]  We have watched the broadcast and read the correspondence listed in the Appendix.

[6]  We have also considered the right to freedom of expression, which is our starting point. The Authority may only intervene and uphold a complaint when the broadcast has caused actual or potential harm at a level justifying a limitation on the right to freedom of expression.²

[7]  The first question is whether the item was misleading. To ‘mislead’ means ‘to give another a wrong idea or impression of the facts’.³ It is possible for programmes to be misleading by omission.⁴

[8]  The accuracy standard is intended to protect the public from being significantly misinformed.⁵ It is therefore concerned only with material inaccuracies. Technical or other points unlikely to significantly affect the audience’s understanding of the content as a whole are not material.⁶

[9]  In this instance, not mentioning the climate crisis within the relevant segment would not have misled viewers. The item did not seek to discuss the cause of the events, make comparisons to other weather events, nor analyse weather trends generally. It was a brief report, lasting just over one minute, on contemporary weather events in the United States. Not mentioning climate change did not give a wrong idea or impression of the events depicted. Whether or not to mention climate change was a matter for the broadcaster’s editorial discretion.⁷

[10]  Notably, scientists agree that anthropogenic climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves, floods, and other extreme weather events.⁸ Reporting on extreme weather events is therefore of significant public interest, regardless of whether the climate crisis is expressly cited in the broadcast. In matters of significant public interest, we would not intervene to restrict the broadcaster’s freedom of expression unless the broadcast created a risk of serious harm. The Authority considers no harm is likely to arise from this broadcast, making regulatory intervention unnecessary.

For the above reasons the Authority does not uphold the complaint.
Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Susie Staley
Chair
25 September 2024    

Appendix

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

1  Matt Greene's formal complaint to TVNZ - 9 July 2024

2  TVNZ's decision on the complaint - 2 August 2024

3  Greene's referral to the Authority - 2 August 2024

4  TVNZ confirming no further comments - 9 August 2024

¹ Standard 6, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand 
² Introduction, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 4
³ Attorney General of Samoa v TVWorks Ltd [2012] NZHC 131, [2012] NZAR 407 at [98]
⁴ See, for example, Hector & Casey and Radio New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2021-052
⁵ Commentary: Accuracy, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 16
⁶ Guideline 6.2, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁷ See, for example, Grimwood and Radio New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2021-018.
⁸ Mark Poynting and Esme Stallard “How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods” BBC (online ed, 18 June 2024); Ministry for the Environment | Manatū Mō Te Taiao “The science linking extreme weather and climate change” (3 February 2023) <www.environment.govt.nz>