Horace in Slow Motion, a short children's cartoon, showed Horace the pig 'picking his nose and eating it'. The complainant argued this was completely unacceptable by society's standards. The Authority thought the programme used typical children's humour – which the broadcaster referred to as "gross out" humour – and the dialogue in the show acknowledged it was "gross", indicating to children this type of behaviour was not socially acceptable.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency
One News reported that 65 police officers had failed their Physical Competency Test (PCT) and that police management were reluctant to discuss the matter. The complainant argued that the item was misleading as it did not indicate what proportion of officers had failed the test, and that the item and footage of someone eating pizza were unfair to, and denigrated, police by portraying them as "fat and unfit". The Authority did not think the item was misleading, and noted that the lack of information was because the police were reluctant to comment. It said the shot of a person eating pizza was legitimate to suggest that diet might be a reason why officers were unfit. The police were given a reasonable opportunity to comment on the story and their response was included.
Not Upheld: Accuracy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration, Responsible Programming
A promo for Go Girls, screened during MasterChef: The Professionals which was rated G, included a brief shot of two men kissing. The complainant argued it was inappropriate for broadcast when children could be watching. The Authority found the kiss was brief and innocuous and would not have disturbed or alarmed child viewers.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Children's Interests
An episode of The Carrie Diaries, an American teen drama series, was screened on TV2 at 3pm on a Sunday and contained sexual references and innuendo. The complainant argued it was inappropriate for broadcast during children's viewing times. The Authority considered the programme was correctly classified PGR and broadcast in an appropriate timeslot, and noted it was preceded by a specific warning for sexual content. It found the depiction of sexual content was inexplicit and discreet and would not have offended or distressed most viewers, including supervised children.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children's Interests
An episode of Home and Away, which was classified G, included a storyline about the date rape of a teenage girl. The Authority agreed with the complainant that the theme of rape was unsuitable for unsupervised child viewers and that the programme was incorrectly classified. The Authority made no order, noting that the programme was now screened on another television network.
Upheld: Responsible Programming
No Order
Panellists on TV3's The Nation discussed the Labour Party's proposal for introducing gender equality rules to increase the number of female caucus members. The complainant argued that the programme was unbalanced because only one woman took part in a panel of nine guests. The Authority noted that two panellists expressed views in support of the proposal, the gender of the panellists was not relevant, and the spectrum of views meant sufficient balance was provided.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration
Items on Q + A and Marae Investigates focused on the issue of domestic violence. The complainant argued that the programmes were unbalanced and discriminatory because they did not acknowledge that men could be victims of domestic violence, as well as women. The Authority said the items were clearly framed as focusing on men's violence against women, so it was not necessary to expressly acknowledge that men could also be victims. The programmes did not denigrate or discriminate against all men as a section of the community.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration, Responsible Programming, Children’s interests
A political commentator on Nine to Noon made comments about the background to negotiations between the Government and Rio Tinto over the Tiwai Point smelter. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the comments were inaccurate: they amounted to the panellist's opinion, not statements of fact, and were high value speech.
Not Upheld: Accuracy
An item on 60 Minutes, "The Two Dads Story", reported on a same-sex couple and their experience of parenthood through the use of an off-shore surrogate. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached the controversial issues standard: the item did not amount to a discussion of a controversial issue of public importance as it focused on the couple's personal story, and so it did not require the presentation of alternative viewpoints.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues
During the Jay-Jay, Mike & Dom Show, the hosts discussed a controversial tweet Dom had posted about The X Factor NZ. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached standards relating to responsible programming and discrimination and denigration: the broadcast sparked debate about the acceptability of the tweet and whether it was sexist, and contained views both for and against the tweet and the criticism it attracted; and the hosts' comment did not encourage discrimination or denigration against any sections of the community.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration, Responsible Programming