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Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Beyond the Darklands: Antonie Dixon – case study of convicted murderer Antonie Dixon based on the recollections of friends, family, neighbours, police and others as well as analysis by psychologist – programme mentioned his marriage to the complainant and referred to her several times – allegedly in breach of privacy, accuracy and fairness FindingsStandard 3 (privacy) – no private facts revealed about the complainant – complainant’s children not identifiable in the programme – not upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – neighbour’s comments were clearly her recollection of events – programme not inaccurate or misleading – not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – complainant and children not treated unfairly – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Sunday – item about New Zealand’s dog breeds and breeders’ ethics regarding inbreeding – reporter visited one breeder at her home – allegedly unfair FindingsStandard 6 (fairness) – complainant was not given a reasonable opportunity to comment – she should have been informed that the programme would broadcast specific allegations against her – reporter’s approach was unfair – upheld OrderSection 13(1)(a) – broadcast of a statement This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on Sunday, broadcast on TV One at 7. 30pm on 29 March 2009, investigated the state of New Zealand’s pedigree dog breeds and breeding ethics in response to an earlier programme which looked at the health of Britain’s purebred dogs. [2] Included in the item was comment from a dog-owner, Chris, who owned a bulldog....

Complaint under section 8(1C)(c)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Desperate Housewives promo – brief scenes showing couples kissing, and characters saying “let’s have sex” and “if I was a lesbian, I’d totally do you” – allegedly in breach of children’s interests standard Findings Standard 9 (children’s interests) – promo was broadcast during G-rated movie – contained material likely to be unsuitable for children – broadcaster did not adequately consider the interests of child viewers – upheld No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] A promo for Desperate Housewives was broadcast on Saturday 2 February 2008 at 8. 30pm on TV2 during the movie Herbie: Fully Loaded, which began at 7pm and was rated G. The promo contained the following brief scenes: Three separate shots showing three fully clothed couples kissing....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 Promo for Life on Mars – included a brief scene of a man having his hand held down and hit with a telephone receiver – allegedly in breach of law and order and violence Findings Standard 2 (law and order) – item did not encourage viewers to break the law or promote, condone or glamorise criminal activity – not upheld Standard 10 (violence) – promo was rated PGR – violence was fleeting – broadcaster exercised sufficient care and discretion – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] A promo for the programme Life on Mars, a British science fiction and police drama television series, was broadcast during One News at 6pm on TV One on Monday 23 June 2008. [2] The promo included a brief scene of a man being interrogated....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Fair Go – item discussed the case of an elderly woman who bought an expensive vacuum cleaner from a door-to-door salesman – item included an interview with the door-to-door salesman and a representative from the Consumers’ Institute – allegedly unbalanced, unfair and the action taken subsequently to correct an inaccuracy was insufficient Findings Standard 4 (balance) – item did not discuss a controversial issue of public importance – not upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – action taken by the broadcaster to correct the inaccuracy was sufficient – not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – item gave the company and salesman an adequate opportunity to respond – host’s comment did not imply companies that sold expensive vacuum cleaners were dishonest – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision....

This decision has been amended to remove the name of the complainant. Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Sunday – item on financial management and an adult products business – complainant participated in item on the condition that she would not be identifiable – exterior shots of her home were broadcast – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency, privacy, and fairness FindingsStandard 1 (good taste and decency) – contextual factors – not upheld Standard 3 (privacy) – no private facts disclosed – not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – complainant identified despite agreement of anonymity – upheldNo OrderThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] TVNZ broadcast an item called “Dollars and Sense” in Sunday on 27 November 2005 at 7. 30pm, and re-screened it on 4 December at 10am....

Complaints under s. 8(1)(a) and s. 8(1)(c) of the Broadcasting Act 1989One News – item on alleged police pack rape of Louise Nicholas – footage shown of former police house where rapes allegedly occurred – current house owner alleged item breached privacy and was unfairFindings Standard 3 (privacy) – no identification of current owner of house – not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – current owner not referred to in item – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item which reported developments following an accusation of rape by Louise Nicholas against three policemen was broadcast on One News on 31 January at 6. 00pm. The item included shots of the former police house where the rapes were alleged to have occurred....

ComplaintsPromos – Mercy Peak x 3 – The Swap x 1 – Bad Girls x 1 – offensive language – classification – violence – two aspects of one complaint upheld by TVNZ – excessive violence and wrongly classified – reasons for promos advanced by TVNZ as informing and attracting viewers by using interesting and intriguing sequences FindingsStandard 1 and Guideline 1a, Standard 7 and Guideline 7b, Standard 10 and Guideline 10c – five promos did not contain offensive language or offensive behaviour – no uphold; the four promos contained minimal violence and were not inappropriately classified – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary [1] Promos for Mercy Peak, The Swap and Bad Girls were broadcast by TVNZ at various times and on different days in April 2002....

ComplaintHolmes Leaders’ Debate – Christian Heritage Party not invited – unbalanced – partial – unfair FindingsStandards 4 and 6 – editorial discretion exercised in balanced and fair way – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary [1] The leaders of eight political parties participated in the Holmes Leaders’ Debate broadcast on TV One at 7. 00pm on 15 July 2002. The participants were chosen on the basis that the parties were represented in the outgoing Parliament. The leaders were questioned about aspects of their party’s policies. [2] The Christian Heritage Party (CHP) complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, about its exclusion from the Leaders’ Debate and the following Minor Leaders’ Debate. It said that the broadcaster had acted unfairly in not treating all political parties in the same way....

ComplaintOne News – images of Kerry Fox and male actor both nude in award winning film "Intimacy" – nudity not decent at 6pm when children watching FindingsStandard G2 – visuals acceptable in context – no uphold Standard G2 – visuals restrained – mindful of children – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary An item broadcast on One News at 6pm on 19 February 2001 advised that New Zealand actress Kerry Fox had won the coveted Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival for her acting in the film "Intimacy". The item showed an extract from the film in which she and a male actor appeared naked....

ComplaintOne News – item reported findings of preliminary study reported in Science – excessive amounts of vitamin C – possibly carcinogenic – inaccurate and unbalanced FindingsStandard G1 – tentative nature of research stressed – no uphold Standard G6 – care when interpreting result emphasised – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary The preliminary results of a research programme which suggested that excessive doses of vitamin C might contribute to tissue damage linked to cancer was the subject of an item on One News broadcast at 6. 00pm on 15 July 2001. Glenn Seal complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the item was neither accurate nor balanced. In response, TVNZ pointed out the item’s emphasis on the preliminary nature of the research, and added that it was not claimed that vitamin C caused cancer. It declined to uphold the complaint....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 One News – item reported on Australia’s recent attempts to reduce pollution by introducing a carbon tax scheme – referred to “pollution”, “polluters” and “carbon” – allegedly inaccurateFindings Standard 5 (accuracy) – item used simplified language to convey scientific concepts to the average viewer – not inaccurate or misleading – not upheldThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Introduction[1] An item on One News, broadcast on TV One at 6pm on 10 July 2011, reported on Australia’s recent attempts to reduce pollution by introducing a carbon tax scheme. The item contained the following statements:“Australia is following New Zealand’s lead on reducing pollution by unveiling a new carbon tax scheme. ” (newsreader) “The science is clear. Our planet is warming. That warming is caused by carbon pollution by human activity and we need to cut carbon pollution....

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 1997-031 Dated the 10th day of April 1997 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by PETER JACKSON of Kaitaia Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED J M Potter Chairperson L M Loates R McLeod A Martin...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Breakfast – presenter referred to Tip Top ice cream competition and informed viewers how to enter – allegedly in breach of responsible programming and children’s interests standards FindingsStandard 8 (responsible programming) – segment did not threaten objectives behind “responsible programming” – promotions of this nature are now commonplace – Broadcasting Act and standards as written do not contemplate this type of segment or give authority to address these issues – not upheld Standard 9 (children’s interests) – broadcast was not aimed at children and would not have disturbed or alarmed any children who were watching, in the manner envisaged by the standard – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Introduction [1] During a segment on Breakfast, the presenter referred to a ‘Feel Tip Top Giveaway’ competition....

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1991-019:Seymour and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1991-019 PDF1015. 04 KB...

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1993-006:Bertram and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1993-006 PDF223. 26 KB...

An item on 1 News reported on the outcome of the US defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. The Authority did not uphold a complaint that the item lacked balance by favouring Heard’s perspective and that certain statements were inaccurate or misleading. It found the balance standard did not apply as the complainant’s concerns did not relate to the omission of perspectives concerning a controversial issue of public importance as required. In any event, reasonable efforts were made to present Depp’s perspective. In relation to the statements that were allegedly inaccurate or misleading, the Authority found they were either materially accurate, or distinguishable as analysis, comment or opinion to which the accuracy standard did not apply. Not Upheld: Balance, Accuracy...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint the documentary Web of Chaos breached multiple standards. The complainant alleged the broadcast represented ‘women who like sewing and interior design as extremists’, which was allegedly ‘racist, sexist, anti-Christian and anti-women of Celtic origin’, lacked any balancing comment from women involved in the community, contained multiple inaccuracies, and was unfair. The Authority found the broadcast did not discriminate against or denigrate any of the nominated sections of the community and the broadcast was materially accurate. This was because the relevant comments were not claiming that all people participating in online craft communities were white nationalists, but rather these communities (like many other online communities) were exposing inadvertent users to extremist ideas. The balance and fairness standards did not apply. Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration, Accuracy, Balance, Fairness...

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]An item on ONE News and a later ONE News update showed a highly-ranked New Zealand mixed martial artist's loss in an Ultimate Fighting Championship match, in which he was kicked and punched repeatedly in the head. The Authority declined to uphold two complaints that the footage was excessively violent because the level of physicality was not unexpected and acceptable in the context of a sport news story covering a fight. Not Upheld: Good Taste and Decency, Responsible Programming, Children's Interests, ViolenceIntroduction[1] An item on ONE News and a later ONE News update showed a highly-ranked New Zealand mixed martial artist's loss in an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match, in which he was kicked and punched repeatedly in the head until the referee stopped the fight....