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Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Close Up – item about child’s death from meningococcal disease following misdiagnosis – paediatrician involved in initial misdiagnosis named twice during the item – allegedly in breach of privacy Findings Standard 3 (privacy) – doctor's name, place of work and involvement in the case not private facts – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on Close Up, broadcast on TV One at 7pm on 27 November 2008, investigated the death of a young child from meningococcal disease after the illness was misdiagnosed at Wanganui Hospital. In the first part of the item, a Close Up reporter outlined what had happened, and interviewed the parents of the child at their home....

ComplaintBehind the Scenes – Ali G in da house – offensive behaviour FindingsStandard 1 – contextual matters – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary [1] The programme Behind the Scenes – Ali G in da house was broadcast on TV 2 at 10. 45pm on 16 July 2002. [2] Angela Niumata complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the programme included a sequence where the main character performed a suggestive and offensive act upon another character. [3] In declining to uphold the complaint, TVNZ said that in the context of adult comedy, the scene complained about did not breach current norms of good taste and decency. [4] Dissatisfied with TVNZ’s decision, Ms Niumata referred her complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under s. 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989. For the reasons below, the Authority declines to uphold the complaint....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Promo for Packed to the Rafters – woman briefly put her hand down the front of her boyfriend’s pants, who jumped and exclaimed “You’ve got chilli on your hands! ” – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency, responsible programming and children’s interests standards FindingsStandard 1 (good taste and decency) – scene was fleeting and playful – intended to be humorous rather than sexual – contextual factors – not upheld Standard 8 (responsible programming) – content was not unsuitable for supervised child viewers – promo correctly rated PGR and screened during Coronation Street – not upheld Standard 9 (children’s interests) – promo did not contain AO material and would not have disturbed or alarmed child viewers – broadcaster adequately considered children’s interests – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 Promo for Real Life: The World’s Most Enhanced Woman and Me – promo for documentary about presenter’s search for woman with largest breast implants in the world – contained footage of a number of women with very large breasts – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency and children’s interests standards Findings Standard 1 (good taste and decency) – footage was relatively inexplicit and was not salacious – contextual factors – not upheld Standard 9 (children’s interests) – broadcaster adequately considered children’s interests – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Introduction [1] A promo for The World’s Most Enhanced Woman and Me, a documentary in which the programme presenter went in search of the woman with the largest breast implants in the world, was broadcast on TV One at 6....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Border Patrol – undeclared meat package from France intercepted at Auckland International Mail Centre – MAF official commented that people eat horse in France and discussed the dangers associated with raw meat in terms of its potential to carry diseases – allegedly in breach of discrimination and denigration standard FindingsStandard 7 (discrimination and denigration) – comment about diseases not directed at French people – did not encourage discrimination or denigration – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An episode of the reality TV series Border Patrol was broadcast on TV One at 7. 30pm on 26 July 2010. Border Patrol was a locally produced television programme that followed the daily activities of New Zealand’s border security staff, including Customs officials at airports and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) officials at international mail centres....

Complaints under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Babel – young female movie character shown exposing her genitals at approximately 9. 01pm – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency, children's interests and responsible programming standards FindingsStandard 1 (good taste and decency) – genital nudity brief and indistinct – relevant to storyline – contextual factors – not upheld Standard 9 (children's interests) – broadcaster adequately considered the interests of child viewers – not upheld Standard 8 (responsible programming) – movie correctly classified AO – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] A movie called Babel was broadcast on TV One at 8. 30pm on Saturday 14 August 2010. The film followed four seemingly unrelated stories about people living in different parts of the world that eventually intertwined and led back to a powerful gun bought by a Moroccan goat herder....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Tonight – item about the delay in election results from the Wellington local body elections – reporter described the Single Transferable Voting (STV) system as “discredited” – allegedly unbalanced and inaccurateFindingsStandard 4 (balance) – focus of item not on STV system – no balance required on STV issue – not upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – in light of focus of item, word “discredited” referred to administration of STV system, not system itself – sufficient basis for reporter to use word accurately in this context – not upheldThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on Tonight on TV One at around 10. 35pm on 20 October 2004 reported that, twelve days after the local body election, the final vote for the Wellington City Council had been announced....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Votes for Women: What Really Happened? (More or Less) – Sunday Theatre docudrama about New Zealand being the first country to give women the right to vote – allegedly inaccurate Findings Standard 5 (accuracy) – programme was a docudrama which legitimately employed dramatic licence to portray historical events – not a news, current affairs, or factual programme to which the accuracy standard applied – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Introduction [1] Votes for Women: What Really Happened? (More or Less) was broadcast as part of TV One's Sunday Theatre timeslot on 24 June 2012. It was a docudrama based on historical facts about how women in New Zealand were given the right to vote in 1893....

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1993-160:Te Okoro Joseph Runga and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1993-160 PDF753. 81 KB...

ComplaintOne News – report referred to film "Austin Powers – The Spy Who Shagged Me" – "shagged" – offensive language FindingsStandard G2 – decline to determine Cross ReferenceDecision No: 1999-163 This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary An item on One News broadcast by TV One between 6. 00–7. 00pm on 12 January 2000 described the development of a new open top sports car by Jaguar. In that context, reference was made to the film "Austin Powers – The Spy Who Shagged Me". Mr Schwabe complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that "shagged" was an offensive, aggressive and macho anti-woman term which was unacceptable for broadcast at a time when children were encouraged to watch television....

ComplaintSunday – euthanasia – interview with Lesley Martin charged with murder of terminally ill mother – some other views advanced – unbalanced ComplaintHolmes – euthanasia – interview with Lesley Martin – no other views advanced – unbalanced FindingsSunday – Standard 4 and Guidelines 4a and 4b – item not a debate about euthanasia and included range of personal stories – not unbalanced – no uphold FindingsHolmes – Standard 4 and Guidelines 4a and 4b – item involved interview with current newsmaker – her views about euthanasia balanced by other items during period of current interest – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary – Sunday [1] Euthanasia was the subject of an item on Sunday broadcast on TV One at 7. 30pm on 9 March 2003....

ComplaintThe Sopranos – scene in which child says "Fuck you, Santa! " – not socially responsible – bad taste FindingsStandard G2 – context – no uphold Cross Reference: Decision No. 2000-104 This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary [1] An episode of The Sopranos was broadcast on TV2 at 9. 30pm on 4 October 2001. The Sopranos is a drama about an American-Italian mafia family living in the eastern United States. [2] Phillip Smits complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, about a scene in which a child says "Fuck you, Santa! ". He considered that it was an "outrage" that "the programme makers would allow a child to say something like that" and socially irresponsible of TVNZ to allow the broadcast. [3] TVNZ declined to uphold the complaint....

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1993-083:Jones and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1993-083 PDF2. 47 MB...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Close Up – satirical item featuring comedian Leigh Hart reviewing the election campaign the night before the general election was to be held – Mr Hart used a whiteboard which occasionally displayed the name of then Leader of the Opposition Phil Goff – allegedly in breach of controversial issues and fairness standards FindingsStandard 4 (controversial issues) – item was a light-hearted review of the election campaign – it did not purport to be a serious or balanced discussion of a controversial issue – appearance and disappearance of Mr Goff’s name on the whiteboard did not require the presentation of alternative viewpoints – in any case the item discussed a number of politicians and included comment from them – not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – complainant did not identify who he thought had been treated unfairly – individuals taking part or referred to in the…...

Complaints under s. 8(1)(a) and s. 8(1)(c) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Sunday – 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 unfair Findings Standard 3 (privacy) – no identification of current owner of house – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on Sunday reported on allegations of possible improper behaviour by the police, and a cover up in relation to accusations of rape by Louise Nicholas against three policemen. It was broadcast on TV One on 21 March at 7. 30pm. [2] The item included shots of the former police house where the rapes were alleged to have occurred. A car was shown in the driveway of the house....

ComplaintReel Life: The Lost Boys – documentary – language – fucking as adjective – "I’ll fucking kill everything" – offensive FindingsSection4(1)(a) – language helped viewers understanding of young man – other contextual factors – rating – time – warning – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary The documentary Reel Life: The Lost Boys looked at the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in 1999. An actor read from the website of one of the assailants in which, among other matters, he referred to "fucking people" and said "I’ll fucking kill everything". The programme was broadcast on TV One at 9. 45pm on 2 March 2001. Paul Schwabe complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the "f" word was offensive and its use in the documentary breached the standards....

The Authority did not uphold a complaint that an item on 1 News, which reported on the United States (US) government shutdown, breached the accuracy standard. The Authority found the statement: ‘The crisis began after Democrats refused to sign off on the President’s demands for eight and a half billion dollars to build a border wall with Mexico’, was unlikely to mislead or misinform viewers about the latest events in the US government shutdown, reported on during the item. The Authority noted that in the context of the item as a whole, the presenter’s comment was an acceptable shorthand introduction to the key issues reported on. Finally, in this case the Authority found that the broadcaster was not required, in the interests of accuracy, to specify that the amount sought for the border wall was reported in New Zealand dollars. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about a 1News item on 28 June 2025 reporting, ‘An Israeli newspaper’s claim that soldiers were ordered to fire on unarmed Palestinians queuing for aid in occupied Gaza has been strongly denied by Israel’s Prime Minister. A US- and Israeli-backed aid provider is also rejecting any link between its sites and the deaths…’ The complaint was that the broadcaster avoided evidence of Israel’s responsibility for the killings and ‘still [would] not report who was responsible’, instead putting ‘overwhelming emphasis’ on ‘the denials’. The Authority did not agree, finding the main item led with strong statements and footage conveying Palestinian suffering, and otherwise contained sufficient information and perspectives to meet the requirements of the standards. The particular aspects PSNA would have preferred to be reported (eg the name of the Israeli newspaper) did not, by their omission, render the item inaccurate or misleading....

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]An episode of the British cartoon, Grizzly Tales, which was classified G (General), featured a young girl called Victoria Spew who threw tantrums until she vomited to get her way. At the end of the episode, Victoria was sucked into the vacuum cleaner her mother had bought to clean up after her. The cartoon showed Victoria’s teeth being pulled from her gums, and organs and body parts falling into the bag. The episode ended with Victoria’s body parts trapped in the vacuum cleaner. The Authority upheld a complaint that this episode of Grizzly Tales was unsuitable for young children. The programme was classified G and so was required to be suitable for all children under the age of 14....