An item on 3rd Degree contained an interview with a man who was involved in a family feud over the provisions of his mother’s will. The man described the legal battle with his brothers, and the item showed two old photographs of the brothers, one of whom was WS. The Authority upheld the complaint that WS’ privacy was breached as he had not consented to having his image shown in the programme.
Upheld: Privacy
Order: Section 13(1)(d) $1,500 compensation to the complainant for breach of privacy
A promo for Embarrassing Bodies Downunder broadcast at 7.15pm during Shortland Street contained a brief reference to the effect of pineapple on the taste of semen. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the sexual references in the promo were inappropriate for broadcast in this timeslot. The reference to oral sex was inexplicit, would not likely have been understood by most younger viewers and did not exceed expectations of the regular audience of the host programme, which frequently contains mature themes.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests
An item on Morning Report covered a truce between Israel and Hamas during the Gaza conflict. A Palestinian rights activist and an Israeli spokesman were interviewed. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the item was unbalanced because more air time was given to the Palestinian view, and because no significant point of view was presented from an equivalent Israeli activist. There is no requirement for mathematically equal time to be given to competing perspectives on controversial issues. Sufficient efforts were made during the broadcast to showcase the Israeli, as well as the Palestinian, perspective. Further, listeners could reasonably be expected to be aware of a range of views on the Gaza conflict given the extensive and ongoing coverage of this issue.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues
A promo for Seven Sharp showed a Pit Bull owner describing the dogs as the ‘most sookiest, goofiest, loyal, loving teddy bears’. The Authority did not uphold a complaint that it was misleading to promote Pit Bulls as ‘good family dogs’. The comments were clearly distinguishable as opinion, so the accuracy standard did not apply.
Not Upheld: Accuracy
The Authority declined to uphold a complaint that Radio New Zealand’s Sunday Morning coverage of ‘Dirty Politics issues’, was unbalanced, irresponsible and unfair. The broadcast covered a range of topics including Dirty Politics, and as the book was one of the political ‘hot topics’ in the lead-up to the 2014 general election and widely reported on, listeners could reasonably be expected to be aware of other views.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Fairness, Responsible Programming
An episode of the murder mystery series Midsomer Murders depicted several murders, including a man being shot with a bow and arrow and a woman being shot with a gun. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the murder scenes showed realistic violence likely to disturb children. The murder scenes were relatively innocuous in context and did not exceed the programme’s PGR classification.
Not Upheld: Responsible Programming, Children’s Interests
A participant on ‘The Panel’ during Afternoons with Jim Mora made comments about men wolf whistling at women, such as ‘bring back the wolf whistle’, ‘a whistle is not harassment’, ‘a lot of women are the ones that haven’t been whistled at, that have got a problem with it’ and ‘we are the peacocks, you guys are the ones that look at us’. The Authority did not uphold a complaint that the broadcast condoned and encouraged sexual harassment of women, as the panellist’s comments were clearly her own opinion and did not reach the level of offensiveness required to find a breach of the relevant standards.
Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration, Good Taste and Decency, Law and Order
The election coverage programme Vote 2014 included footage of Te Ururoa Flavell speaking to Māori Party supporters in te reo Māori. One of the presenters said, ‘[O]bviously as he’s speaking in Māori, in te reo, and the vast majority of us aren’t going to understand that… let’s go back to David Cunliffe…’ and the broadcast crossed to Mr Cunliffe’s speech. The Authority declined to uphold a complaint that the comment was racist and unfair. Although the comment was disrespectful and dismissive of the fact that te reo Māori is an official language of New Zealand, it did not reach the high threshold necessary to encourage discrimination or denigration, and was not unfair to Mr Flavell, especially in the context of an important political event.
Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration, Fairness
The Authority declined to uphold complaints that three broadcasts showing fishing and hunting were barbaric and cruel. As the Authority has noted in previous decisions on similar complaints from the complainant, killing and preparing animals to eat is a fact of life and her concerns are based primarily on personal lifestyle preferences, not broadcasting standards issues.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Law and Order, Controversial Issues, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration, Responsible Programming, Children’s Interests, Violence
An item on Rural News discussed Taranaki Regional Council’s response to a previous Rural News story about landfarms, and included the statement that TRC ‘consents the disposal of oil industry waste on to about a dozen dairy and drystock farms, known as landfarms in the region’. The Authority declined to uphold a complaint that the statement was inaccurate and misleading as it was not material to the item and was clarified in the context of the story as a whole.
Not Upheld: Accuracy