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 an item on RNZ’s 9am news bulletin about an electricity shortage in New Zealand breached multiple standards. The complaint focused on the broadcast’s allegedly inappropriate use of terms such as energy, fossil fuels, power and electricity and the omission of contextual information. In the context of the news bulletin, the Authority found RNZ’s audience was unlikely to be misled. Accordingly, the accuracy standard was not breached. The remaining standards either did not apply or were not breached.

Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Children's Interests, Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour, Discrimination and Denigration, Balance, Accuracy, Privacy, Fairness

The broadcast

[1]  During the 9am news bulletin on RNZ National on 10 May 2024, an item aired concerning Transpower’s warning that New Zealand was facing a shortage of energy that morning. The item included the following comments:

Newsreader:  Transpower says this morning's power squeeze is over. The national grid operator asked people to reduce their energy consumption whenever possible between 7 and 9 o'clock this morning. Transpower's Executive General Manager of Operations Chantelle Bramley told Morning Report it was ready to act to control power use, but that wasn't needed. She says power plants often schedule their maintenance in May before winter hits.

Chantelle Bramley: May can be a challenging time of year. Lots of generators are trying to take their plants out on … necessary scheduled outages to do the maintenance they need to do before the really cold winter months. These are complex pieces of equipment. They do need to take them out.

Newsreader: Chantelle Bramley says there was the equivalent of about 700MW of power not available this morning. The Energy Minister, Simeon Brown, says the Government is encouraging investment in the sector to avoid the need for power usage warnings like this morning's. Mr Brown says the former Labour government disincentivised investment in energy, leaving the country relying on old thermal generation, which can't be turned on quickly when supply is tight. He says new generation is needed to keep the lights on.

Simeon Brown: That's why we've got rid of Lake Onslow, which was having a chilling effect on investment in electricity generation. That's why we've removed the 2030 100% renewable target, which was again sending the wrong messages and picking winners. That's why we're going to remove the oil and gas ban and exploration permit ban.

Newsreader: The former Energy Minister, Labour's Megan Woods, says the country can't rely on telling big power users to cut back. She says the now ditched Lake Onslow battery scheme would have offered energy storage. MPs from all parties have agreed to investigate how New Zealand can prepare for the effects of climate change. The cross-party inquiry will examine how the costs and responsibilities of adapting to climate change can be shared. The Climate Change Minister, Simon Watts, says adaptation needs an enduring and long-term approach and is grateful to other parties for agreeing to the inquiry.

The complaint

[2]  Dave McArthur complained that the broadcast breached the offensive and disturbing content, children's interests, promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour, discrimination and denigration, balance, accuracy, privacy and fairness standards of the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand. 

[3]  He provided lengthy submissions in support of his complaint. These addressed issues including his concerns about the industrial revolution, the values of the ‘Anglosphere’, the ‘petrodollar’ and existential threats to humanity.

[4]  We have outlined key arguments presented by the complainant below:

General

• The complainant is largely concerned with RNZ’s non-scientific use of words, including in using and/or promoting the ‘equation’ ‘Energy = Fossil Fuels = Power = Electricity = select Bulk generated electrical products.’ He argues this limits ‘holistic discourse about wise use of our solar-electrical potential’.
• Terms such as energy, fossil fuels, power and electricity should not be used interchangeably.

Offensive and disturbing content

• ‘RNZ uses [such words] in ways designed to evoke sensations of fear, self-doubt, deprivation and panic in the listener and to generate psychopathic behaviour such as addictions, violence, greed and even self-destruction.’

Children’s interests

• The use of the terms energy, power, electricity etc interchangeably changes a child’s world view, through altering their understanding of thermodynamics. This affects their development as they grow up. RNZ broadcasts are an existential threat to our children.

Promotion of illegal or serious antisocial behaviour

• RNZ using this ‘unsustainable language’ promotes behaviours including wasteful practice and pollution, inciting hatred of other cultures and races, usury practices, addictive use of minerals and profiteering from warfare. These can result in warfare and societal collapse.

Discrimination and denigration

• ‘RNZ promotes abuse of our national solar-electrical potential and a system that discriminates against our children, the elderly and the poorest people in particular while exploiting all citizens as tradeable commodities.’

Balance

• ‘RNZ failed to provide the vital context that we are now involved in WWIII in a desperate attempt to support the Anglo petrodollar and have destroyed our national solar-electrical potential.’

Accuracy

• ‘The material point of fact was this was not abnormal weather within the context of human-induced global warming, which causes increased atmospheric turbulence and temperature extremes. It is misleading to blame technology and weather for the national emergency when it was a planned event by some men (human beings.)’

Privacy

• In this ‘age of electronic surveillance’ there is ‘gross infringement of the rights to privacy of all citizens’.
• ‘The NZ Electricity Industry Reform legislation strips citizens of the rights to own the information of their household meter while conferring huge rights to private corporations to own, manipulate and trade that information at will. RNZ fails to acknowledge this truth and to act to protect citizen’s rights.’

Fairness

• ‘RNZ failed to provide context [for the National Emergency] such as the NZ Electricity Industry Reforms, the seasonal weather changes and the capacity of modern technology to balance the national grid load.’ It unfairly shifted responsibilities for the alleged shortfall in supply from ‘profiteering private corporations’ to our communities and ‘to our children’s future’.

The broadcaster’s response

[5]  RNZ did not uphold the complaint under any standard, rejecting the complainant’s assertion that the use of the terms ‘energy, power, fossil fuel and electricity’ created an inaccuracy. RNZ submitted this ‘would not have affected the listeners understanding of the item which was that Transpower did not need to undertake any steps to control consumption through the peak period that morning and that both the energy minister and former energy minister provided comment on the current situation.’

Jurisdiction

[6]  The complainant has sought to capture a series of comments made on multiple programmes airing on RNZ on 10 May 2024 in his complaint. He indicated that his complaint addressed the ‘totality of RNZ broadcasts on 10 May 2024’. However, his original complaint also included this note:

Note: [the 9am] news bulletin is selected because it is [the] distillation of language used during the wide range of RNZ National broadcasts overnight and throughout the morning of the May 10 Civil Emergency.

[7]  RNZ addressed the complaint only in respect of the 9am broadcast.

[8]  We note the complainant has specifically identified some of the other RNZ broadcasts that day and included details of the specific comments of concern included in them. There is accordingly some basis to interpret his formal complaint as extending beyond the 9am news bulletin. However, we have determined that it is also appropriate for the Authority to consider only the 9am broadcast based on:

• the nature of the complaint (including its focus on the use of specific words)
• the complainant’s indication the 9am news bulletin provides a ‘distillation’ of the language of concern
• the burden that addressing all of the other broadcasts would have on the resources of both the broadcaster and the Authority.

[9]  To the extent the complaint is capable of extending to other broadcasts, we therefore decline to determine those aspects of the complaint under s11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.¹

The standard

[10]  We consider the accuracy standard best addresses the concerns raised by the complainant and have focused our analysis on that standard. The remaining concerns of the complainant have been addressed below at [21].

[11]  The purpose of the accuracy standard² is to protect the public from being significantly misinformed.³ It states broadcasters should make reasonable efforts to ensure news, current affairs or factual content is accurate in relation to all material points of fact, and does not mislead. Where a material error of fact has occurred, broadcasters should correct it within a reasonable period after they have been put on notice.

Our analysis

[12]  We have listened to the broadcast and read the correspondence listed in the Appendix.

[13]  As a starting point, we considered the right to freedom of expression. It is our role to weigh up the right to freedom of expression against any harm potentially caused by the broadcast. We may only intervene when the limitation on the right to freedom of expression is demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.⁴

Accuracy

[14]  We consider the complaint, as a whole, raised two issues capable of being determined under the accuracy standard:

• whether the broadcast was missing contextual information about the potential electricity shortage on 10 May 2024, such as details of the causes of unseasonable weather and reforms in the energy industry
• whether the presenter’s use of words such as ‘energy’, ‘electricity’ and ‘power’ was inaccurate and/or likely to mislead listeners.

Whether the broadcast was missing contextual information

[15]  The news item was a short piece discussing the end of the risk period for the national grid running out of electricity during a ‘cold snap’.⁵ It sought comment from a Transpower spokesperson, the Minister for Energy and Labour’s spokesperson for energy, seeking to explain why the situation occurred and how the country could avoid this in the future.

[16]  In the context of a failure of the industry to provide for unusually cold weather, focussing on how industry was positioned to respond to the immediate issue, rather than on underlying changes to weather patterns or other industry reforms, was a valid editorial decision of the broadcaster and would not have misled the audience.

Whether words such as ‘energy’, ‘electricity’ and ‘power’ were inaccurate/misleading

[17]  The complainant considers the non-scientific use of these words likely to mislead the audience and argues they cannot be used interchangeably.

[18]  The Authority has previously not upheld an accuracy complaint by this complainant based on such words being inappropriately used interchangeably.⁶ We see no reason to depart from that decision in the current context.

[19]  With regard to the concerns regarding ‘non-scientific’ use of these words, in the context of this broadcast (with its focus on specific issues surrounding a risk period, steps to address it and a brief mention of proposed inter-party collaboration on climate change), we consider RNZ’s audience were likely to understand the intention of the words used and were unlikely to be misled.

[20]  Accordingly, we do not uphold this complaint under the accuracy standard. Having now twice addressed similar complaints from Mr McArthur about the use of such terms, we may consider exercising our power to decline to determine future complaints of this nature as they represent an unreasonable burden on the resources of the broadcaster and the Authority.⁷

Remaining standards

[21]  We consider the remaining standards raised either did not apply or were not breached for the following reasons:

• Offensive and disturbing content, children’s interests and the promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour:  With regard to these standards, the consequences the complainant anticipates arising from the broadcast are extreme and unrealistic. Such outcomes are not the likely effect of watching RNZ’s 10 May broadcast (or broadcasts) – particularly as RNZ broadcasts are only one of many sources of information available to the audience about the energy sector, energy options and the relevant terminology.
• Discrimination and denigration: This standard protects against broadcasts which encourage discrimination or denigration of relevant sections of the community.  It does not address the promotion of ‘systems’ which might operate against the interests of those communities (such as an energy sector which fails to realise our ‘solar–electrical potential’).
• Balance: This standard⁸ ensures competing viewpoints about significant issues are presented to enable the audience to arrive at an informed and reasoned opinion.⁹ The standard only applies to news, current affairs and factual programmes, which discuss a controversial issue of public importance.¹⁰ The relevant item discussed the end of a risk period for the national grid, explained what occurred and how it might be avoided in future and mentioned proposed cross-party collaboration to prepare for the effects of climate change.  The standard only contemplates the presentation of significant viewpoints on the issues discussed in the broadcast. The points raised by the complainant concern other issues and background. In addition, as a relatively brief news item, we do not consider the audience would expect such further details and perspectives to be included.¹¹
• Privacy: The standard addresses the inappropriate disclosure, in broadcasts, of personal information about identifiable living persons. The complainant’s concerns do not relate to any information disclosed in the broadcast itself.
• Fairness: This standard requires broadcasters to deal fairly with any individual or organisation taking part or referred to in a broadcast. However, the complaint under this standard is focused on the unfair representation of a situation rather than any individual or organisation featured in the broadcast.  

For the above reasons the Authority does not uphold the complaint.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Susie Staley
Chair
14 October 2024    

Appendix

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

1  Dave McArthur's initial complaint to RNZ and associated correspondence - 13 May to 14 June 2024

2  RNZ's response to the complaint - 25 June 2024

3  McArthur's referral to the Authority - 15 July 2024

4  McArthur's further referral email - 15 July 2024

5  McArthur's further comments - 31 July 2024

6  RNZ confirming no further comments – 2 September 2024

¹ Section 11(b) allows the Authority to decline to determine a complaint referred to it if it considers that, in all the circumstances of the complaint, it should not be determined by the Authority.
² Standard 6, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand 
³ Commentary, Standard 6, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 16
⁴ Introduction, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 4
⁵ “Cold snap power cuts avoided as consumers make 'significant' cuts to usage” RNZ (online ed, 10 May 2024)
⁶ McArthur and Radio New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2007-072 at [16]
⁷ Section 11 of the Broadcasting Act 1989 confers the power to decline to determine complaints.
⁸ Standard 5, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁹ Commentary, Standard 5, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand at page 14
¹⁰ Guideline 5.1
¹¹ Guideline 5.4