BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Findings
Authority declines to accept the complaint on the grounds that it does not have jurisdiction to do so.

This headnote does not form part of the decision.

Complaint

[1]   Shirish Paranjape emailed Television New Zealand Ltd (TVNZ) on 19 January complaining about its coverage of One Day International cricket matches between South Africa and India. Mr Paranjape maintained that TVNZ’s One News programme had only included coverage of the games won by South Africa, not India, and he alleged that this was discriminatory.

Broadcaster’s Response to the Complainant

[2]   TVNZ responded that the complaint was a matter of personal preference rather than broadcasting standards.

Referral to the Authority

[3]   Mr Paranjape asked the Authority to review TVNZ’s decision.

Authority’s Determination

[4]   We note that Mr Paranjape’s sole complaint was that TV One did not include coverage of certain cricket matches in its One News bulletins. We agree with TVNZ that the selection of material to be included in news programmes is a matter of editorial discretion, not broadcasting standards. Further, we note that section 5(c) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 states:

Complaints based merely on a complainant’s preferences are not, in general, capable of being resolved by a complaints procedure.

[5]   Mr Paranjape’s complaint that these news items should have contained coverage of other matches is clearly his own preference rather than a matter of broadcasting standards which could be resolved by this complaints procedure.

[6]   As no issue relating to broadcasting standards was raised, we find that the broadcaster was not required to accept and respond to that complaint under the Broadcasting Act 1989, and this Authority has no jurisdiction to accept a referral of Mr Paranjape’s complaint.

For the above reasons we decline jurisdiction to consider Mr Paranjape’s complaint.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Peter Radich
Chair
8 April 2011

Appendix

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

1                 Shirish Paranjape’s email to TVNZ – 19 January 2011

2                 TVNZ’s response to the complaint – 11 February 2011

3                 Shirish Paranjape’s email to the Authority – 11 March 2011