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The Authority has not upheld an accuracy complaint about an item on Newshub Live at 6pm reporting on clashes between mourners and Israeli police at the funeral of a Palestinian-American journalist in East Jerusalem. Footage of the events was accompanied by a caption onscreen stating ‘Jerusalem, Israel,’ which the complainant considered was inaccurate. The Authority found the brief caption would not have materially affected viewers’ understanding of the item as a whole and therefore the accuracy standard was not breached. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint regarding an item on Newshub Live at 6pm about the current war in Ukraine. The complaint was in relation to the map used in the segment, which showed Ukraine, Russia and other nearby countries, and depicted Crimea as a part of Russia. The Authority acknowledged that the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing war in Ukraine is a highly sensitive topic and found the map did contain inaccuracies. However, the Authority found the segment was materially accurate, as the map would not have significantly affected the audience’s understanding of the programme as a whole. In the circumstances the Authority determined that regulatory intervention was not required. The programme information, law and order, and fairness standards did not apply. Not Upheld: Accuracy, Programme Information, Law and Order, Fairness...

The Authority has declined to determine a complaint an item on Newshub Live at 6pm breached the accuracy and balance standards, for including a statement linking the Auckland Anniversary floods to climate change. The complainant considered the broadcast should not have contained reference to climate change, and that climate change should not be presented as fact. Given the Authority has previously found the existence of climate change caused by humans is not a controversial issue of public importance for the purpose of the balance standard, and the accuracy standard is only concerned with material statements of fact, the Authority considered it appropriate to decline to determine the complaint. Declined to Determine (section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989, in all the circumstances the complaint should not be determined): Accuracy, Balance...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about an item on Newshub Live at 6pm, which discussed a draft film script for the proposed film They Are Us, based on events surrounding the Christchurch terror attack on 15 March 2019. The complainant considered comments made during the broadcast, such as that the script was ‘a misleading and dishonest Americanisation of what happened in this country’ were derogatory towards Americans, and breached the discrimination and denigration standard. The Authority acknowledged the comments had the potential to cause offence, but found they did not meet the high threshold required to breach the standard and justify restricting the right to freedom of expression. Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration...

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 complaints that the action taken by Warner Bros. Discovery in response to a breach of the accuracy and fairness standards – during a Newshub Live at 6pm item on Immigration New Zealand’s decision to allow Posie Parker’s entry to New Zealand – was insufficient. The broadcaster upheld the complaints relating to a clip of Parker, which the reporter stated had been blurred because Parker was ‘using a hand signal linked to white supremacists’. The broadcaster conceded that blurring Parker’s hands was potentially misleading as it prevented audiences from making their own assessment of the footage, and potentially unfair as Parker’s intention was unclear. The broadcaster removed the video in the online version of the story and replaced it with a clip of Parker’s position on neo-Nazis, which the Authority found was sufficient and proportionate action in the circumstances....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that comments made by the Political Editor on Newshub Live at 6pm referring to ‘New Zealand Loyal conspiracy candidate Liz Gunn’s party of two” breached broadcasting standards. The Authority found that the balance standard did not apply. It also found the comment was not unfair noting the party could reasonably expect such robust commentary in the lead up to an election and the party leader had previously described it as a ‘compliment’ to be referred to as a conspiracy theorist. Not Upheld: Balance, Fairness...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that an item on Newshub Live at 6pm on 7 October 2021, reporting on criticism of National Party leader Hon Judith Collins in the Mood of the Boardroom survey, breached the balance and fairness standards by failing to refer to the survey’s criticism of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The Authority found the balance standard did not apply as the complaint did not concern a controversial issue of public importance. It further found the broadcast did not go beyond the level of robust scrutiny and political analysis that could reasonably be expected of the Leader of the Opposition, and therefore the fairness standard was not breached. Not Upheld: Balance, Fairness...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about an item on Newshub Live at 6pm reporting on New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’ State of the Nation speech, which stated Peters had compared the previous Labour Government’s approach to co-governance to the Holocaust. The complainant considered this breached the accuracy standard on the basis Peters had referred to Nazi Germany and ‘growing social/racial differences as evident in Germany’ pre-World War II rather than to the Holocaust. The Authority found the broadcast was not misleading, noting the description that Peters had made a comparison to the Holocaust was not materially different to saying he had made a comparison to Nazi Germany....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that it was inaccurate and unbalanced for an item on Newshub Live at 6pm to claim there are two main ways to teach literacy in New Zealand when there are several. The item concerned the National Party’s proposed policy to make ‘structured literacy’ the compulsory teaching method in New Zealand schools. The Authority found the simplified statement was materially accurate, and any technical inaccuracy in the description of literacy teaching methods would not have affected the audience’s understanding of the programme as a whole. In the context of a brief news item, focused on National Party policy, the Authority also considered the item to have included sufficient perspectives on the issue of literacy teaching methods. Not Upheld: Accuracy, 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 an item on Newshub Live at 6pm breached the balance standard. The broadcast commented on Chris Hipkins’s first day as Prime Minister, and noted after only a few hours into the role, he did not have any ‘tangible’ policy to announce. The complainant alleged the broadcasting was biased, and unbalanced. The Authority did not uphold the complaint, finding the balance standard did not apply as the broadcast did not discuss an issue of public importance, the complainant did not specify which balancing perspectives they considered were not presented, and in any event, relevant perspectives had been presented in the broadcast.   Not Upheld: 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 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...