The Last House on the Left, the remake of a horror movie, contained a scene which showed the violent rape of a young teenage girl. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the scene breached the good taste and decency and violence standards: the movie was screened at 10.50pm, the “narrative” context justified the rape scene, the rape scene was well signposted for viewers, and not gratuitous or designed to titillate, and there was an explicit warning for graphic and sexual violence.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Violence
An episode of Underbelly: Razor broadcast at 8.30pm included a sex scene in which a woman was on top of a man in bed; her breasts were briefly visible, and she could be heard moaning. The episode was preceded by a visual and verbal warning. The Authority upheld the complaint that the scene breached the children’s interests standard: the scene amounted to “strong adult material” broadcast close to the Adults Only watershed. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Children’s Interests
No Order
An item on 3 News, on the likely ban of guided heli-hunting on conservation land, contained file footage of commercial deer recovery that showed hunters shooting at deer from helicopters. The Authority upheld the complaint that this gave a misleading impression and breached the accuracy standard: commercial hunting is a completely different industry from guided heli-hunting and the footage should have been explained to ensure that viewers understood it related to commercial hunting. The Authority declined to uphold the fairness complaint on the grounds that the commercial hunting industry was not an “organisation” for the purposes of the standard. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Accuracy
Not Upheld: Fairness
No Order
During the Fair Go Ad Awards, two teams of advertisers were asked to design advertising campaigns within the programme, to “sell us Quade Cooper for New Zealand’s next Prime Minister”. The campaigns included comments such as “everyone hates Quade Cooper”. A complaint was made that the “Hate Quade” theme was unfair and encouraged “hatred of a person”. The Authority did not uphold the complaint: the piece was intended to be light-hearted and humorous and was presented in the spirit of good-natured ribbing and team rivalry, so was not unfair, and the discrimination and denigration standard only applies to sections of the community, not to individuals.
Not Upheld: Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration
A scene from Coronation Street, broadcast at 5.30pm, showed two female characters kissing. The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that this breached standards relating to good taste and decency, responsible programming, children’s interests, and controversial issues. The scene was brief and innocuous and no less acceptable for being a kiss between two women; the content was consistent with the programme’s G rating and, given the context, was not unsuitable for children; the programme screened in an appropriate time-band; and the controversial issues standard only applies to news, current affairs and factual programmes.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Controversial Issues, Responsible Programming, Children’s Interests
An episode of Good Morning included an interview with author and Associate Professor of Psychology Niki Harrè about her new book on the psychology of sustainability. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that a reference to Niki Harrè as a “psychologist” in a teaser for the item breached the accuracy standard: the single reference to “psychologist” in the teaser was not a material point of fact – the term was used colloquially and not intended to denote a technical meaning, and any impression it created was clarified by the item itself.
Not Upheld: Accuracy
A One News item on the National Party’s proposed asset sales policy stated that the government had refused to release information under the Official Information Act and that a subsequent complaint to the Ombudsman revealed that the government had received very little official advice regarding its claim about limiting foreign ownership. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the item was in breach of the accuracy standard: it included comment from Prime Minister John Key and would not have misled viewers.
Not Upheld: Accuracy
An item on Sunday, entitled “Before We Say Goodbye”, reported on the case of Sean Davison, who was facing charges for assisting his mother’s suicide. Footage of Mr Davison in the Dunedin High Court was shown, during which a Corrections Officer, the complainant, was briefly visible in the background. The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that the broadcast breached standards relating to privacy, fairness and discrimination and denigration: the item did not disclose any private facts about the complainant, the footage of him was extremely brief and did not cause damage to his reputation or dignity, and the discrimination and denigration standard does not apply to individuals.
Not Upheld: Privacy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration
A One News item about a dispute between two local councils stated that the regional council was taking the city council to court “because it says the city is polluting the Manawatu River with sewage”. An out-of-focus image of cattle grazing was displayed during the introduction to the item. The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that this breached the accuracy and discrimination and denigration standards: the image of the cattle was blurry and difficult to discern, the image was not related to the item but the item made it clear that the focus was on pollution from sewage, and farmers are not a section of the community to which the discrimination and denigration standard applies.
Not Upheld: Accuracy, Discrimination and Denigration
An item on Campbell Live featured two reporters dressed in full burqas using hidden cameras to film the public’s reaction. It included footage of a woman refusing the reporters entry to her shop and questioning their style of dress. The footage was rebroadcast on 3 News and The Jono Project. The programmes made negative comments about the woman’s behaviour. The woman in the footage complained that this breached the privacy, fairness and accuracy standards. The Authority upheld the fairness complaint: the footage was obtained through misrepresentation and the complainant was not informed of the nature of her participation, and the complainant should have been given an opportunity to respond to the negative portrayal of her in the programmes. The Authority did not uphold the privacy and accuracy complaints: the broadcasts did not disclose any private facts and the filming occurred in a public place; the 3 News and Campbell Live items would not have misled viewers into believing the reporters were genuine Muslims, while The Jono Project was not a factual programme to which the standard applied. The Authority ordered TVWorks Ltd to pay $2,000 costs to the Crown.
Upheld: Fairness
Not Upheld: Privacy, Accuracy
Order: $2,000 costs to Crown