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 ThreeNews item breached the accuracy standard by claiming a 24-hour period in October 2024 was Dunedin’s ‘wettest day in a century’. In the context of an 11-minute live broadcast reporting on a regional state of emergency, the comments did not amount to material points of fact. Their inclusion would not have affected viewers’ understanding of the overall item, as its purpose was to provide information to New Zealanders following a natural disaster. Further, live reporting on extreme weather events carries high public interest, and this broadcast did not create harm at a level justifying restriction of the broadcaster’s freedom of expression.

Not Upheld: Accuracy

The broadcast

[1]  The 4 October 2024 broadcast of ThreeNews included an 11-minute item about heavy rainfall and flooding in Dunedin.  Introducing the segment, the ThreeNews presenter said:

Dunedin and Clutha District are tonight under a state of emergency as the worst rain event in over 100 years continues to batter the wider region. We are there live as evacuations, slips, road closures, and widespread flooding hammer residents, and the rare red rain warning is extended.

[2]  The presenter continued:

Dunedin is effectively cut off tonight as the city’s state of emergency continues. It’s recorded its wettest day in over a century, and that’s resulted in widespread flooding, evacuations, and road closures. The wider region’s first ever red rain warning has been extended until 11 o’clock tonight. Nearly 131mm of rain fell in the suburb of Musselburgh in just 24 hours. NIWA [the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research] says some areas copped 74 days’ worth of rain in just 40 hours.

[3]  During this, the on-screen text read:

• ‘Wettest day since April 1923’
• ‘Red heavy rain warning extended from 9pm to 11pm’
• ‘130.8mm recorded between 9:00am Thursday and 9:00am Friday’
• ‘More than twice the usual October rainfall fell in just 40 hours’.

[4]  The broadcast crossed to a ThreeNews reporter live from Dunedin, who said:

Clutha District declared a state of emergency today after rising floodwaters in the area closed roads around the area and services in that area are now overwhelmed. Here in Dunedin, a state of emergency has been in place since just before midnight last night. It was a rough night here with an enormous amount of rain and many locals spent it fleeing their homes.

[Segment cuts to pre-recorded footage and a voiceover by the reporter]

This is what Dunedin's wettest day in more than 100 years looks like. Rain turning streets into rivers. Water overwhelming the city's infrastructure. Slips have caused chaos, and parks more like lakes.

[5]  The reporter went on to highlight how the heavy rain and flooding had impacted the community, having resulted in flooded homes, road closures, various slips, and evacuations. Brief comments from residents, the Dunedin mayor, and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon were included.

[6]  A nearly two-minute-long interview was conducted by the reporter with a Civil Defence representative. They provided information on the developing situation and health and safety advice, including:

• Clutha District declared a state of emergency that afternoon ‘to meet all the impacts that are happening to their communities at the moment’
• at the time of broadcast, Dunedin was ‘a bit of an island’ due to road closures to the north and south of the city
• identifying the location for an open welfare centre for ‘anyone stranded in Dunedin’
• requests to stay away from flood banks due to instability, and to stay out of flood waters because of potential contamination by ‘sewerage, farm runoff, and other materials’
• urging people to ‘stay home, wherever possible, if your home’s not flooded’ and to only travel where essential.

[7]  When asked how significant the event had been for Dunedin and Clutha District, the representative said:

Look, pretty significant. I mean, it’s forecasted, I think, a one-in-100-year event at the moment, as forecasted by MetService, but certainly significant.

[8]  The ThreeNews presenter said, ‘As emergencies go, the response to this Otago event so far looks like a bit of a success story. The forecasts were accurate, and the authorities prepared,’ before turning to ThreeNews’ weather analyst who discussed ‘the response’ and ‘the numbers’:

ThreeNews weather analyst:     There's another long night ahead for Dunedin and surrounding areas. The MetService has extended the red heavy rain warning until 11 o’clock tonight.

Dunedin mayor:                          Things are going as well as they can do in the circumstances. But, you know, we can't control that water from the sky.

Weather analyst:                         So far, the forecasting has been extremely accurate, with the messaging from both NIWA and the MetService on point. This has been pivotal to allowing emergency services, Council, civil defence, and residents to prepare

Emergency Mgmt. Minister:      As a country, we’re going to continue to be hit with these weather events. The reality of it is, it’s the way we respond. And, I have to say that the response down here, like I said, has been gold standard.

Weather analyst:                         One Dunedin central weather station recorded over 130mm in the last 42 hours. That’s just about twice their average amount of rain they get in October. And NIWA’s Musselburgh station’s been operational for over 100 years. From 9am yesterday ‘til 9am this morning, they clocked 130.8mm of rain. That was their wettest day in over a century. Now, these rainfall totals are by no means record setting for the whole country. There are much wetter spots all over the place. But this persistent and relentless rain is falling in an area that’s not used to it. The environment, the land, the infrastructure’s not capable of absorbing such a heavy volume of water. And we’re seeing the results.

[9]  The weather analyst continues by explaining the origins of the rain in meteorological terms.

[10]  The broadcast ended with a one-and-a-half-minute discussion between the weather analyst and the presenter about the weather forecast for the region.

The complaint

[11]  Ian Wishart complained the broadcast misrepresented the severity of the rainstorm in Dunedin and breached the accuracy standard by claiming it was Dunedin’s wettest day in over a century when it was not. The complainant provided detailed submissions, key points from which are summarised below:

The statement was inaccurate

• Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) relied on a NIWA tweet, which stated it was referencing Musselburgh specifically (one of Dunedin’s weather stations) and used the term ‘provisionally’ (suggesting the claim had not yet been confirmed). WBD therefore did not quote the tweet accurately.
• While the rainfall in Musselburgh was ‘significant’, it was not the wettest day in Dunedin’s history. Various weather stations in Dunedin, including Musselburgh, have recorded higher levels of rain, with events from 1923, 1929, 1968, 1980, and 2015 surpassing the rainfall recorded from 9:00am 3 October to 9:00am 4 October 2024.
• Official weather readings may be taken from 9am to 9am, but NIWA consistently publishes rainfall data beyond the 9am to 9am time window (including 4am to 4am rainfall data in connection to the 2015 Otago floods). The broadcast should have, at least, clearly stipulated the 24-hour-timeframe in question was 9am to 9am.

The statement was a material point of fact

• When introducing the segment, the presenter said Dunedin and Clutha District were experiencing their ‘worst rain event in over 100 years’. The presenter’s statement was the lead angle for the story, setting the tone and context for viewers’ understanding of the event’s significance.
• The term also suggested a link to climate change.
• ‘Clearly, a rain event of 1-in-100-year magnitude is far more important than a 1-in-13-year rainstorm.’
• The materiality of the comment was reflected in the fact that major news outlets started reporting it was ‘Dunedin’s wettest day’.

WBD did not make reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy

• ThreeNews failed to:
  • verify and fact check NIWA’s tweet before broadcasting the information contained in the tweet
  • confirm whether Musselburgh represented the city as a whole or was just one weather station’s reading
  • question the reliability of NIWA’s records.
• Stuff and Three had been put on notice, via media releases on the complainant’s articles,¹ that NIWA’s climate records are not reliable.

The broadcaster’s response

[12]  WBD did not uphold the complaint under the accuracy standard, stating:

• The accuracy standard only requires broadcasters make reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy. Determining whether a broadcaster has made reasonable efforts includes assessing the source of the relevant material.
• Stuff confirmed NIWA was the source for the statement in question. ThreeNews was entitled to rely on NIWA’s information, given they are ‘a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand staffed by respected scientists’.
• (NIWA confirmed they use the Musselburgh weather station when referencing ‘Dunedin’ in its climate summaries, due to the station’s ‘central location and long, continuous history’. It is therefore reasonable to reference ‘Dunedin’ rather than ‘Musselburgh’ specifically and doing so did not materially mislead the audience or affect their overall understanding of the issue under discussion.   

The standard

[13]  The purpose of the accuracy standard (Standard 6) is to protect the public from being significantly misinformed.² The standard states:³

Broadcasters should make reasonable efforts to ensure news, current affairs or factual content:

• is accurate in relation to all material points of fact
• does not materially mislead the audience (give a wrong idea or impression of the facts).

Further, 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

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

[15]  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

[16]  Determination of a complaint under the accuracy standard occurs in two steps. The first step is to consider whether the programme was inaccurate in relation to a material point of fact or materially misleading. The second step is to consider whether reasonable efforts were made by the broadcaster to ensure the programme was accurate and did not mislead.

[17]  The complaint centres around the broadcast’s statements to the effect that 4 October 2024 was Dunedin’s ‘wettest day in a century’.

[18]  This term appeared in a post on X by NIWA Weather made earlier in the day on 4 October. The post indicated NIWA’s relevant results were provisional and related to readings at the Musselburgh weather station:⁵

Provisionally, Dunedin (Musselburgh) has just observed its second-wettest day on record with 130.8 mm from 9:00 am Thursday-9:00 am Friday. 
It has been their wettest day in over a century; the last time it was at least this wet in Musselburgh was in April 1923.

[19]  The complainant states NIWA’s post was inaccurately described by ThreeNews because it failed to emphasise the result’s provisional nature, and the post itself was misleading in suggesting the day may have been Dunedin’s wettest in over a century. The latter issue is complicated by questions around the appropriate methodology for making such an assessment.

[20]  The Authority’s role, however, is not to rule on the appropriate methodology for calculating rainfall levels – and resolution of that issue is not necessary to determine this complaint. This is because, as outlined in Guideline 6.2, the standard is not concerned with technical or other points unlikely to significantly affect the audience’s understanding of the broadcast as a whole. Wishart’s concerns, as outlined in paragraph [19], fall within that category.

[21]  In the context of an 11-minute-long live broadcast reporting on an ongoing state of emergency, it was not material to understand whether the extreme weather event in progress was the worst in 100 or in 13 years. More precise information regarding Dunedin rainfall data would not have affected viewers’ understanding of the overall item which, in our view, was intended to inform viewers about the emergency, convey official warnings and provide information about the event’s impacts, assistance available to those affected, and issues for travellers.

[22]  The complainant considers the ‘wettest day’ comment to be a material point based on it:

• being in the broadcast’s introduction (as ‘the lead angle’ which ‘set the tone and context’)
• suggesting a link to climate change
• being a term picked up and subsequently reported on by other outlets.

[23]  However, the term’s inclusion in the introduction (or reporting by other media) is not determinative of its materiality, and this was not a story focused on climate change. At the time of broadcast, Dunedin City and Clutha District were both in states of emergency due to ‘significant impacts caused by heavy rainfall’ and flooding.⁶ Around 100 people were evacuated from 60 homes overnight from 3 to 4 October, and almost 50 properties were red or yellow stickered because of the floods.⁷ This was a story about an ongoing emergency.

[24]  Reporting on such extreme weather events carries significant public interest. The public relies on media sources for information about natural disasters, such as real-time updates and safety advice. It is important for them to appreciate the scale and impact of such events to act and prepare themselves accordingly.⁸

[25]  In these circumstances, we would not intervene to restrict the broadcaster’s freedom of expression unless the broadcast created a risk of serious harm. The risk of concern to the complainant was around viewers misunderstanding the frequency or cause of such storms. In the context of this broadcast, such a risk did not create harm at a level justifying regulatory intervention and we have identified no other harm that did.⁹

[26]  Having found the programme was not materially misleading, it is not necessary to determine whether the broadcaster has made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the programme.¹⁰ However, we note our disagreement with the proposition that NIWA, being a Crown Research Institute established specifically to undertake scientific research and related activities, should be regarded as ‘unreliable’.¹¹

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

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

Susie Staley
Chair
26 March 2025    

Appendix

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

1  Ian Wishart’s formal complaint – 7 October 2024

2  WBD’s response to the complaint – 31 October 2024

3  Wishart’s referral to the Authority – 16 November 2024

4  Wishart’s supporting material – 17 November 2024

5  WBD’s confirmation of no further comment and date of initial complaint – 9 January 2025

¹ Ian Wishart “TOO HOT TOO HANDLE: NIWA’s misleading temperature records” Centrist (online ed, 1 February 2024); Ian Wishart “Has NIWA Misled Parliament? Climate agency feels the heat after OIA dump” Centrist (online ed, 12 July 2024) ; Ian Wishart “Eleven killed – NIWA’s lack of historic storm knowledge a factor, concludes damning report” Centrist (online ed, 26 July 2024); Ian Wishart “NIWA Minister errs in communicating to Centrist” Centrist (online ed, 12 August 2024) ; Ian Wishart “Minister blames NIWA’s missing storm data on World War 2” Centrist (online ed, 17 August 2024)
² Commentary, Standard 6, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 16
³ Standard 6, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁴ Introduction, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand, page 4
⁵ See NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) www.x.com on 4 October 2024
⁶ Civil Defence “Declared States of Emergency” <www.civildefence.govt.nz>
⁷ “’Worst is over’: MetService downgrades rain warning for South” Otago Daily Times (online ed, 4 October 2024); “Dunedin and Otago residents lodge more than 1000 claims for flood damage” Radio New Zealand (online ed, 17 October 2024)
⁸ Morton and Television New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2017-004 at [8]
⁹ For a similar finding, see Greene and Television New Zealand Ltd, Decision No. 2024-063 at [10]
¹⁰ Van der Merwe and Mediaworks TV Ltd, Decision No. 2019-015 at [21]
¹¹ NIWA “Our company” <www.niwa.co.nz>