Showing 41 - 56 of 56 results.
The Authority has not upheld a complaint about multiple images of needles and vaccinations being performed shown in two Newshub Live at 6pm items reporting on COVID-19. The Authority found the images were unlikely to cause widespread undue offence. There is a high public interest and value in news reporting about the vaccination programme. In the context of a news item, the images would not adversely affect child viewers. The balance standard did not apply. Not Upheld: Good taste and decency, Children’s interests, Balance...
The Authority has declined to determine a complaint regarding a broadcast including an interview with a lawyer who was represented as a ‘political commentator’. The complainant made several unsubstantiated allegations to the effect the lawyer was corrupt, and the broadcaster should have disclosed their alleged corruption. The Authority considered the complaint should not be determined in the circumstances as it amounted to the complainant’s personal preference on who should be interviewed, and how they should be portrayed, which are matters of editorial discretion not capable of being resolved by the broadcasting standards complaints process. Declined to determine (section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989, in all the circumstances): Law and Order, Balance...
The Authority has not upheld a complaint about an item on Newshub Live at 6pm reporting on the results of the Transport and Accident Investigation Commission’s investigation into a fatal mid-air collision at an unattended aerodrome. The complainant alleged the broadcast was inaccurate and unbalanced in its reporting that ‘dangers’ (such as the non-compliant procedure that had contributed to the crash) were occurring at other unattended aerodromes. The Authority found the broadcast accurately reflected the results of the investigation and the broadcast did not discuss a controversial issue of public importance for the purpose of the balance standard. Not Upheld: Accuracy, Balance...
The Authority has partially upheld a complaint in relation to the accuracy of a Newshub Live at 6pm item about a person alleged to have harmed greyhounds. It alleged details about the accused were inaccurate and images of an unrelated dog accompanying the report were misleading. The Authority found the relevant details regarding the accused were not materially inaccurate. It found the broadcaster was correct in upholding the complaint initially in relation to the images used, but action taken in response was not sufficient to remedy the likely reputational damage to the handler and industry. The Authority held publication of this decision was sufficient remedy for the breach in all the circumstances. Upheld: Accuracy (Action Taken) No Orders...
The Authority has not upheld an accuracy complaint about a statement by Newshub’s political editor, ‘the Government announced today it is going to be scrapping cultural reports [used in sentencing],’ following an item focused on the Prime Minister’s comments at Waitangi and on the Treaty Principles Bill. The complaint alleged it was misleading to say the reports had been ‘scrapped’ when the Government had actually announced it would remove legal aid funding for the reports. The Authority was not convinced the statement was inaccurate, given the practical effect of removing Legal Aid funding for cultural reports; and even if it were, the alleged inaccuracy was not material to the segment, and would not have impacted audience’s understanding of the broadcast as a whole. Not Upheld: Accuracy...
The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a Newshub Live at 6pm item suggesting Labour’s Affordable Water Reform policy encompassed controls over all freshwater breached the accuracy standard. The Authority found the relevant references to freshwater were inaccurate. However, in the context of a story about Mayor Wayne Brown’s concerns for Auckland ratepayers and call to action for National, such detail regarding Labour’s policy was not material to the audience’s overall understanding of the item. Not Upheld: Accuracy...
The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a Newshub Live at 6pm report regarding water fluoridation and the Three Waters proposal breached the balance, accuracy and fairness standards. While the issue of how to improve Aotearoa New Zealand’s fluoridation is a controversial issue of public importance, the report included major perspectives on this issue, including alternatives such as central government orders, imposition of penalties and better data collection, as well as the Three Waters proposal. On this basis the balance standard was not breached. The complainant’s submissions under the accuracy standard concerned analysis to which the standard does not apply. The fairness standard did not apply. Not Upheld: Balance, Accuracy, Fairness...
The Authority has not upheld an accuracy complaint about an item on Newshub Live at 6pm which referred to ‘countless drive-by shooting incidents in recent weeks’, in the context of reporting on community efforts to limit gang tension and violence in Auckland in the lead up to a Tonga national rugby league match. The Authority found the item was materially accurate, and it would be contrary to the right, and value, of freedom of expression to restrict such speech. Not Upheld: Accuracy...
The Authority did not uphold a complaint that two items on Newshub Live at 6pm breached the offensive and disturbing content, and children’s interests standards. The programme included interviewees using the terms ‘shit’ and ‘holy shit’. Considering relevant contextual factors, the BSA’s guidelines on low-level language, and the expectation children are supervised when watching the news, the Authority found the relevant language was not at a level meriting regulatory intervention. Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, and Children’s Interests...
The Authority has not upheld a complaint about a report regarding a heckler at a press conference by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, as the balance standard did not apply. It also found a report featuring footage of beach handball players’ uniforms did not breach the good taste and decency standard as the clip was not likely to undermine current norms of good taste and decency and the footage was justified in context. Not Upheld: Balance, Good Taste and Decency...
An item on Newshub Live at 6pm reported on the results of a poll with the question ‘When Queen Elizabeth II is no longer queen, should New Zealand break away from the Commonwealth and become a republic? ’ From this poll, the item reported ‘almost half of us’ want to remain in the monarchy after the Queen dies. The complainant alleged that the question was misleading as it implied that for New Zealand to transition to a republic, it must also leave the Commonwealth, which is not the case. The complainant argued that the item’s reporting on the poll results as representing support for the monarchy, was therefore inaccurate....
An item on Newshub Live at 6pm reported on artist Tāme Iti correcting the spelling of his name on an artwork by Dean Proudfoot. After the item aired, the host commented ‘fair enough. ’ The complainant considered this comment breached the promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour standard by justifying Iti’s actions, thereby encouraging illegal behaviour (alleged vandalism). The Authority did not uphold the complaint, finding the brief, off the cuff comment was unlikely to encourage illegal or antisocial behaviour. Not Upheld: Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour...
The Authority has not upheld a complaint alleging an item on Newshub Live at 6pm lacked balance. The item reported on reactions to the sentencing of a person involved in the ‘coward punch’ death of a prominent Auckland kickboxer. A person’s sentencing is not a controversial issue of public importance, so the balance standard does not apply. In any case, it was clear the item was coming from a particular perspective. Not Upheld: Balance...
The Authority has not upheld a complaint that an item on Newshub Live at 6pm, which broke the story of Dr Jonie Girouard issuing medical certificates to patients to attempt to use as vaccine exemptions, breached the privacy and law and order standards. The item featured hidden camera footage filmed by an undercover journalist posing as a patient at Dr Girouard’s practice. The Authority found the footage shown did not breach the privacy of other patients at the practice who were filmed without their consent, as they were not identifiable. It found that the footage did breach the privacy of Dr Girouard, on the basis she was identifiable in the broadcast, and the covert footage amounted to a highly offensive intrusion on her reasonable expectation of seclusion....
The Authority declined to determine three complaints as they did not raise clear concerns capable of being addressed by the complaints process. Decline to determine (section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 – in all the circumstances): Good Taste and Decency, Children’s Interests, Violence, Alcohol, Accuracy...
The Authority1 has not upheld a complaint concerning a news item reporting on a road safety seminar in which experts had voiced support for reducing speed limits, in the context of the Government’s decision to stop blanket speed reductions. The complainant considered information provided by road safety experts and others during the item was inaccurate and misleading, and that the item lacked balance. The Authority found no breach of the accuracy standard, noting that broadcasters are entitled to rely on information conveyed by reputable experts. It also found no breach of the balance standard, noting the broadcast sufficiently presented alternative viewpoints in the circumstances. Not Upheld: Accuracy, Balance...