During a live broadcast from Riccarton Park Racecourse, one of the hosts of the ZM drive show Jay, Flynny & Jacqui, said to her co-hosts, “You’ve obviously watched the race. I know you haven’t put any bets on because you’re both Jews.” The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached the discrimination and denigration standard: the comment was ignorant and perpetuated stereotypes but did not reach the high threshold necessary for encouraging the denigration of, or discrimination against, Jewish people as a section of the community.
Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration
An episode of Shameless, a comedy-drama series centred on British underclass and working class culture, broadcast on UKTV at 11.45am, contained sex scenes, swearing and violence. The broadcaster had upheld the complaint under the content classification, warning and filtering standard, and the Authority considered the action taken under that standard sufficient. However, the Authority upheld the complaint that the episode also breached the good taste and decency standard: the incorrect classification and inadequate warning label meant that viewers were not sufficiently informed of the programme’s likely content and were therefore denied the opportunity to make a different viewing choice and were more likely to be offended. The Authority did not find a breach of the children’s interests standard: the broadcaster sufficiently protected child viewers from unsuitable content by classifying the programme as 16. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Good Taste and Decency
Not Upheld (Action Taken): Content Classification, Warning and Filtering
Not Upheld: Children’s Interests
No Order
Keep Calm and Carry On, a reality series on TV One about the host’s experience of new motherhood, contained a brief mention of ‘The Unfortunate Experiment’ – an experiment at New Zealand’s National Women's Hospital from 1966 onwards that was investigated by the Cartwright Inquiry of 1987–88. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the reference breached the controversial issues, accuracy and fairness standards: the programme did not contain a “discussion” of the issue so was not required to present alternative viewpoints, the reference was brief and not material to the focus of the programme, and the complainant did not specify who she considered had been treated unfairly.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness
A One News item reported on a “skimming” scheme in which the accused allegedly “fleeced money from customers who used eftpos machines inside at least one Auckland business”. The item referred to and showed footage of the Brooklyn Bar in Auckland where, according to one customer, he had had his card “skimmed”. The Authority upheld the complaint that this breached the accuracy and fairness standards: the item wrongly singled out and identified the Brooklyn Bar as having been targeted by the fraud, which created the impression the business was unsafe; the complainant was not provided with a fair and reasonable opportunity to comment and correct the information; and the broadcaster failed to make proper inquiries. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Accuracy, Fairness
No Order
An item on Te Kāea, broadcast on Māori Television, reported on an Anglican deacon who was allegedly stood down after making a complaint about a man he alleged had been the subject of a sexual abuse inquiry. The Authority upheld the complaint that this breached the accuracy and fairness standards: it is not the Authority's role to determine the nature of the the alleged sexual abuse and its portrayal in the item; the item omitted other reasons for the deacon's suspension, which was misleading; the item was unfair to the church and the Bishop because the broadcaster did not have a sufficient foundation for broadcasting serious allegations and did not appear to take any steps to corroborate the essential facts of the broadcast; and given the seriousness of the allegations, the church was not provided with a fair and reasonable opportunity to comment. The Authority did not agree that the item breached the controversial issues standard as it did not discuss a controversial issue of public importance.
The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Accuracy, Fairness
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues
No Order
An item on 60 Minutes reported on a high profile immigration case involving a Chinese millionaire, disclosing his address and showing footage of his business assistant in the lobby of the apartment building where he lived. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this breached the privacy standard: the address was not disclosed for the purposes of encouraging harassment and there was no evidence that harassment resulted from the disclosure; and the apartment building lobby was accessible to the public so neither the Chinese millionaire nor his business assistant had a reasonable expectation of privacy there.
Not Upheld: Privacy
In a radio interview with the founder of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the host of Checkpoint made three references critical of Jamaica. The Authority declined to determine the complaint that this breached standards relating to good taste and decency, controversial issues, accuracy, fairness, discrimination and denigration, and responsible programming: the complainant's concerns were matters of personal preference and editorial discretion.
Declined to Determine: Good Taste and Decency, Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration, Responsible Programming
A news item on 1XX News contained a summary of a BSA decision declining to uphold a complaint made by the complainant. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the summary breached the accuracy and balance standards: the item gave a fair summary of the Authority's findings and was not inaccurate or misleading, the brief news report did not amount to a discussion and the Authority's decision was not a controversial issue.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy
A guest host on the Paul Holmes Show on Newstalk ZB read out a text message which used the phrase "pre-op tranny", and the phrase was repeated by a listener who called the show. The broadcaster upheld the complaint that this breached the discrimination and denigration standard. The Authority found that the action taken by the broadcaster was sufficient.
Not Upheld (Action Taken): Discrimination and Denigration
A promo for Beyond the Darklands, a TV One series in which a clinical psychologist profiled notorious New Zealand criminals, included comments about the death of a toddler. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the promo breached the good taste and decency and responsible programming standards: while the subject matter of the upcoming episode was distressing, details of the abuse had been widely reported in the media, the promo was correctly classified PGR and screened during an appropriate host programme (The Force, a reality TV series about the work of police), and the promo itself was reserved and respectful.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Responsible Programming