A 3 News item reporting on an overnight series of aftershocks in Christchurch was introduced with the statement: “it’s just what Christchurch does not want to hear, warnings that a big one, seven on the Richter scale, is probably coming”. The item included extracts from an interview with a geologist interspersed with voiceover comments from the reporter. The Authority upheld the complaint that the item breached the standards relating to accuracy and responsible programming. The introductory statement inaccurately summarised the geologist’s opinion and overstated the prediction of a magnitude seven earthquake, and the statement was unnecessarily alarmist and was likely to have caused undue distress for Christchurch residents. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Accuracy, Responsible Programming
No Order
A satirical item on Close Up featured a comedian reviewing the election campaign the night before the general election. The comedian used a whiteboard, on which the name of the Leader of the Opposition appeared and disappeared from time to time. The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that the broadcast breached the controversial issues and fairness standards: the item was a light-hearted review and did not require the presentation of alternative viewpoints, and the complainant did not identify who he thought had been treated unfairly.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Fairness
C4 broadcast a programme called LMFAO Video Hits at 7pm, which included the music video for LMFAO’s song “Shots”. A complaint was made that the video contained coarse and sexually explicit language and liquor promotion. Given the dominance of liquor promotion in the video and the sexual messages conveyed, and the screening of the video during children’s viewing times, the Authority upheld the complaints about liquor promotion and children’s interests. (The issues of good taste and decency and responsible programming were subsumed into consideration of liquor and children’s interests.) The Authority declined to uphold the complaint about discrimination and denigration: while the song did refer to women, it did not carry the invective necessary to encourage denigration of women as a section of the community. The Authority made no order.
Upheld: Children’s Interests, Liquor
Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration
Subsumed: Good Taste and Decency, Responsible Programming
No Order
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
Two Campbell Live items reported on controversial comments made by the Chief Executive (CE) of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), Alasdair Thompson, that some female workers are less productive because they take sick leave when they are menstruating. The first item was an excerpt from an interview with Mr Thompson, while the second consisted of a panel discussion about Mr Thompson’s behaviour during the interview. Both items questioned whether Mr Thompson should remain in his position at the EMA. The Authority declined to uphold complaints that the items were unfair, inaccurate, unbalanced and breached individuals’ right to privacy: the interview footage was fair; the items focused on Mr Thompson’s comments and his competency to fulfil his role as CE of the EMA, rather than the specific issue of pay equity, but balance was achieved in relation to both issues; and the items did not breach anyone’s privacy. In a minority decision, one member found that the broadcast of only a small part of the interview would have left viewers with an unfairly negative impression of Mr Thompson.
Not Upheld: Accuracy, Controversial Issues, Privacy
Not Upheld (majority): Fairness
An item on 3 News, broadcast on TV3 at 6pm, reported on a single bluefin tuna being sold at auction in Japan for nearly one million dollars. Footage was shown of the fish’s head being removed and the fish being sliced in half; there was also brief footage of other fish being sliced or filleted. The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that the broadcast breached the good taste and decency and violence standards. The images were not gratuitous and would not have offended most viewers in the context of a news item, and filleting fish did not amount to “violence” for the purposes of that standard.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Violence
An episode of reality series Four Weddings was broadcast at 2pm on TV One. It included a ‘naturist’ ceremony where the bride and groom and most of the guests were shown naked. The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that the broadcast breached standards relating to good taste and decency and children’s interests. The nudity was matter-of-fact and non-sexual, nudity is not in itself harmful to children, and the programme was preceded by a verbal and written warning.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests
In an episode of Intrepid Journeys, broadcast at 7.30pm on TV One, well-known New Zealander Brendon Cole visited a Vanuatu village. The locals told him how to kill a chicken using a slingshot but he didn’t manage to hit the chicken properly and eventually killed it with his hands. The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that the programme breached standards relating to good taste and decency, children’s interests and violence. The footage was not gratuitous – it showed the daily reality of a different culture and it was clear that Mr Cole was upset about killing the chicken; the programme was correctly rated PGR and the scene was signposted so parents could exercise discretion; and the footage did not amount to “violence” as envisaged by that standard.
Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests, Violence
An item on One News, broadcast on TV One, reported on Prime Minister John Key referring the matter of the “tea tapes” to the police. It included Mr Key’s comment that because the crime rate had been lowered the police “do have a little bit of spare time”. At the end, the reporter said, “John Key may face criticism . . . for saying that police have too much time on their hands.” The Authority declined to uphold the complaint that the broadcast breached standards relating to controversial issues, accuracy and fairness. Viewers heard Mr Key’s original comment so they would not have been misled; politicians should expect robust commentary on their views during an election period; and the item presented alternative views on the involvement of police in the matter.
Not Upheld: Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness
Items broadcast on Campbell Live on TV3 asked viewers for their opinions on changing the New Zealand flag and gave a brief visual overview of the history of New Zealand flags. The Authority declined to determine the complaint that this breached standards relating to controversial issues, accuracy, fairness, discrimination and denigration, and responsible programming: the complainant’s concerns were matters of personal preference and editorial discretion and the complaint was frivolous and trivial.
Declined to Determine: Controversial Issues, Accuracy, Fairness, Discrimination and Denigration, Responsible Programming