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The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a Labour Party election programme which used the phrase ‘it’s about by Māori, for Māori’ was misleading on the basis the Aotearoa New Zealand Government is allegedly mostly funded by non-Māori taxpayers. The Authority held that a reasonable viewer would not understand this term to relate to government funding but to leadership and decision-making roles being held by Māori for Māori issues. The misleading programmes standard did not apply. Not Upheld: E1: Election Programmes Subject to Other Code (Accuracy), E4: Misleading Programmes...

The Authority has not upheld two complaints that it was inaccurate for a 1News reporter to state ‘[The International Court of Justice] so far has said it's plausible that genocide is happening on the ground in Gaza’. The complainants alleged the court’s ruling only stated Palestinians had plausible rights to be protected from genocide, rather than finding genocide was plausible. The Authority found the nature of the ICJ ruling represented a statement of fact to which the standard applied, but did not consider the statement was materially misleading taking into account the legal technicalities in the ruling and the subsequent clarification, the continued debate around the ICJ’s ‘plausibility’ test, and the context of the item. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

The Authority has declined to determine a complaint under the offensive and disturbing content standard, regarding a 1News football match preview which included a montage of crowd shots. The complaint was about a crowd shot where a Palestinian flag was visible. The Authority has declined to determine the complaint on the grounds it concerned matters of personal preference and did not raise issues of potential harm which required the Authority’s intervention. Declined to Determine (section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 – in all the circumstances of the complaint, it should not be determined) Offensive and Disturbing Content...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that an episode of Motorway Patrol breached the privacy standard. A short segment of the programme focused on a Senior Constable attending a crash on an Auckland motorway. It featured footage of the complainant as a ‘Good Samaritan’ who had stopped to check on the person in the crashed vehicle. The Authority acknowledged the impact of the broadcast on the complainant, who said they were not informed the filming was for broadcast purposes and were not asked for consent. However, applying the relevant guidelines under the privacy standard, the Authority found the broadcast did not disclose information attracting a reasonable expectation of privacy and would not be highly offensive to an objective reasonable person....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that allowing an interviewee to wear what appeared to be a keffiyeh during an interview about the government’s introduction of new ‘move-on’ orders breached the offensive and disturbing content, discrimination and denigration, balance, and fairness standards. The Authority found broadcasting the interviewee wearing this garment would not have caused widespread disproportionate offence or distress, or have had the effect of encouraging discrimination against, or denigration of, Jewish people. It noted, if the garment was in fact a keffiyeh, the keffiyeh is not an anti-Semitic symbol, nor is showing support for Palestinians anti-Semitic. The balance and fairness standards did not apply. Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Discrimination and Denigration, Balance, Fairness...

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 1996-013 Dated the 22nd day of February 1996 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by PHILLIP SMITS of Auckland Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED J M Potter Chairperson L M Loates R McLeod A Martin...

The Authority has declined to determine a complaint under the balance standard regarding an episode of Breakfast that referred to New Zealand as Aotearoa. The complainant considered the name Aotearoa should not be used to replace the country’s official name. In all the circumstances, the Authority found the complaint did not raise any issues of broadcasting standards that could properly be determined by its complaints process. Declined to Determine: Balance (section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 – in all the circumstances)...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint concerning a Sunday investigation report looking into issues with emergency housing in Rotorua, and a follow-up item on 1 News. The majority of the Sunday broadcast focused on allegations against the largest contracted emergency housing provider in Rotorua, Visions of a Helping Hand (Visions), and its contracted security company Tigers Express Security Ltd – both led by CEO/Director Tiny Deane. Visions complained the broadcast was unbalanced, misleading, and unfair to Visions, Tigers Express Security and Deane. Noting the very high public interest and value in the story overall, the Authority found most of Visions’ concerns with the broadcast could have been addressed had it provided a substantive response to the reporter on the issues raised – who had made numerous attempts over more than a month to obtain comment from Visions and Deane....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989The Investigator Special: The Case Against Robin Bain – documentary maker Bryan Bruce gave his perspective on the case against Robin Bain, by re-examining the evidence against Robin given at David Bain’s retrial – concluded that there was no forensic evidence connecting Robin with the murders – also investigated whether the complainant, who was a “surprise” witness at the retrial, had given misleading evidence – allegedly in breach of accuracy and fairness standards FindingsStandard 6 (fairness) – complainant was not given a fair and reasonable opportunity to respond to the issues raised about his testimony – unfair – upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – alleged inaccuracies relate to implication in the programme that the complainant gave misleading evidence – Authority not in a position to determine whether the programme was inaccurate in this respect – decline to determine under section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act…...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 Two and a Half Men – episode screened at 7. 30pm contained sexual innuendo including references to being “spanked”, “wearing my panties”, and transmitting sexual diseases – showed naked man with his genitals pixellated – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency and children’s interests standards Findings Standard 1 (good taste and decency) – sexual innuendo was inexplicit and sophisticated so that it would have gone over the heads of younger viewers – nudity pixellated – content consistent with programme’s PGR rating – contextual factors – not upheld Standard 9 (children’s interests) – episode correctly rated PGR – broadcaster adequately considered children’s interests – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision.  ...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint a 1 News item on fire dangers posed by lithium batteries was inaccurate for including footage of a vehicle which was not confirmed to have been affected by a lithium battery fire. The Authority found the alleged inaccuracy was not material and would not have significantly impacted viewers’ understanding of the broadcast as a whole. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

The Authority declined to determine a complaint an item on 1 News reporting on the New Zealand economy breached the accuracy standard. The complainant considered the focus of the item should have been on GDP growth, but was instead framed around wealth inequality, and was otherwise misleading through the omission of other details. The Authority considered these were issues of personal preference and editorial discretion, which cannot be resolved through the complaints process. Declined to Determine (section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 in all the circumstances the complaint should not be determined): Accuracy...

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1993-168:Smits and Television New Zealand Ltd - 1993-168 PDF319. 29 KB...

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....

ComplaintHolmes – item on Erotica exhibition – offensive behaviour Findings: Standard G6 – no uphold Standard G7 – not applicable Standard G11 – not applicable Standard G12 – no uphold This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary A Holmes item broadcast on TV One on 4 August 2000 between 7. 00–7. 30pm dealt with a trade fair held in Auckland entitled Erotica 2000. According to the organisers, the fair was intended to change people’s perception of erotica being sleazy and to present it as mainstream. Dennis Walker complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the broadcast promoted the sex industry as a viable lifestyle and that TVNZ was irresponsible in screening such material. In his view, all aspects of the sex industry degraded women. In its response, TVNZ noted that the broadcast had taken a "light-hearted look" at the trade fair....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Close Up – language in interview with chef Gordon Ramsay – allegedly in breach of children’s interests standard Findings Standard 9 (children’s interests) – children unlikely to be watching unsupervised – Gordon Ramsay famous for use of bad language so not unexpected – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] In an episode of Close Up, broadcast on TV One at 7. 30pm on Monday 23 June 2008, the programme’s host interviewed Gordon Ramsay, a well-known and hot-tempered chef. During the interview, the host asked him, “So no swearing at home then? ” Mr Ramsay replied that although he and his family did not swear at home, he could not stop his children hearing swear words at school in the playground, and his eight-year-old son had recently been taught the word “wanker” by his schoolmates....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Ghost Squad – scene showing a gang of teenage girls beating an off-duty police officer until he was unconscious – one of the girls was seen to urinate over the man’s head as he lay on the ground – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency FindingsStandard 1 (good taste and decency) – contextual factors – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An episode of Ghost Squad, a British drama series about a crime unit in which police officers policed their colleagues, was broadcast on TV One at 9. 30pm on 15 August 2006. The programme featured a scene in which a gang of teenage girls beat an off-duty police officer until he was unconscious....

SummaryAn item in an Assignment programme broadcast on TV One on 18 June 1998 commencing at 7. 30 pm depicted a public meeting of the Act Party in Tauranga. The reporter stated that Act staff had told the broadcaster after the meeting that supporters of the group, Voters’ Voice, had given each Act MP a copy of the recent speeches of Pauline Hansen. The Chairman of Voters’ Voice (Inc) claimed that the statement was a fabrication. Voters’ Voice took umbrage at the statement, he wrote, for the organisation was constitutionally bound to avoid party political opinion. Act officials could confirm no such event took place, he added. The broadcaster, Television New Zealand Limited, responded that its investigation revealed that the reporter’s statement was made to him by a senior Act representative in the presence of a witness....

SummaryA controversial exhibition of works by American artist Keith Haring, then showing at Wellington City Gallery, was featured on Backch@t. The programme included an interview with the Rev Graham Capill who had claimed the works were offensive. During the interview, he held up to the camera a drawing by Haring which he claimed depicted bestiality. The programme was broadcast on TV One at midday and 10. 40 pm on 25 April 1999. Mr Thomas complained to Television New Zealand Limited, the broadcaster, that the footage of the drawing was indecent and tasteless, particularly as it was broadcast at a time when children were able to view the programme. Because the programme was pre-recorded, there had been time to edit or obscure the picture, he wrote....