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Complaint under s. 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Nine to Noon – commentator (Hana O’Regan) compared the impact of views of the leader of the National Party (Dr Brash) to those of Hitler – allegedly offensive, irresponsible, unbalanced, unfair and inaccurateFindings: Principle 1 (good taste and decency) – context – not upheld Principle 4 (balance) – another perspective on extensively debated controversial issue – not upheld Principle 5 (fairness) – focus of comparison on process, not policy – not upheld Principle 6 (accuracy) – limited factual comparison accurate – not upheldThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] Commentator Hana O’Regan was interviewed by the presenter (Linda Clark) on National Radio’s Nine to Noon between 9. 54 and 10. 00am on 11 February 2004....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about a broadcast on Radio New Zealand National’s Nine to Noon marking one year since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. The broadcast included two interviews conducted by host Kathryn Ryan - one with BBC Middle East editor Sebastian Usher, and the other with Sally Stevenson, an emergency coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières. The Authority found listeners were alerted to alternative significant viewpoints during Usher’s interview, and Stevenson’s interview was clearly signalled as being from Stevenson’s perspective. Additionally, the audience could reasonably be expected to be aware of significant context and viewpoints from other media coverage and, while noting the balance standard is not directed at bias, no material which indicated bias against Israel was identified....

Complaints under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Nine to Noon – interview about legislation change to introduce paying the minimum wage to disabled people – allegedly unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair Findings Principle 4 (balance) – presenter adopted aggressive manner with two interviewees – prevented interviewees from presenting significant viewpoints to listeners – listeners deprived of important information on controversial issue under discussion – unbalanced – upheld Principle 5 (fairness) – one aspect of fairness complaint subsumed into consideration of Principle 4 – programme not unfair to Minister for Disability Issues – not upheld Principle 6 (accuracy) – no inaccuracies – not upheld Order Section 13(1)(a) – broadcast of a statement This headnote does not form part of the decision....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Nine to Noon – discussion between commentators about New Zealand’s change in government – one commentator recalled overhearing a conversation at Auckland Airport in which a man told some tourists that the former Prime Minister was a lesbian – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency, accuracy and discrimination and denigration Findings Standard 1 (good taste and decency) – comments were intended to be humorous and ironic – contextual factors – not upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – programme not a news, current affairs or factual programme to which the accuracy standard applied – not upheld Standard 7 (discrimination and denigration) – comments related to an individual, not to a section of the community – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision....

Summary Gary McCormick, a guest on National Radio’s Nine to Noon on 22 July 1999, joked with the host about a news report that day that an IRD employee had offered to forego an audit of some prostitutes in exchange for free sex. Referring to a Civil Aviation Authority report on an air accident reported that day, he joked that he would ask the CAA to provide a warrant for his car. Mr Boyce complained to Radio New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the exchanges were inappropriate. When he did not receive a response from RNZ within the statutory time limit, he referred the complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under s. 8(1)(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989. The Authority sought RNZ’s comments on the complaint. It reported that it had responded to the complaint 19 working days after its receipt....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 Nine to Noon – item was part five of a 15-part reading of the novel “The Captive Wife” – the reading contained language of a sexual nature – allegedly in breach of good taste and decency  Findings Standard 1 (good taste and decency) – contextual factors – not upheld (This headnote does not form part of the decision. ) Broadcast [1]  On Friday 10 August 2007 at 10. 45am, Nine to Noon, broadcast on Radio New Zealand National, featured a reading from the novel “The Captive Wife” by Fiona Kidman. The novel was based on the lives of Jacky and Betty Guard, and events which took place in 19th century New Zealand. The reading was approximately 13 minutes long and was part five of a 15-part series....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989National Radio – Nine to Noon – dispute about whether the presenter used the word “lie” or “line” – the former allegedly offensiveFindingsPhrase used was “that is a desperate line” – not in breach of broadcasting standards – not upheldThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] On National Radio on 9 September 2005 on the Nine to Noon programme, National Party deputy leader Gerry Brownlee said, referring to Radio New Zealand, “this is Radio Labour at its best”. [2] In response to this comment, the presenter said either “that is a desperate line” or “that is a desperate lie”. Complaint [3] Michael Gibson said that he had heard the presenter respond “that’s a lie”. He considered the presenter’s comment was damaging and offensive. He stated that it breached “at least one” of the broadcasting standards....

The Authority has declined to determine a complaint regarding a broadcast discussing Fonterra’s write-down of assets and the Reserve Bank’s announcement of an official cash rate cut. The Authority considered that the complaint was trivial, frivolous and vexatious and raised matters which were not covered in the broadcast and amounted to the complainant’s personal preference rather than issues of broadcasting standards. Declined to Determine: Accuracy...

ComplaintNational Radio – Nine to Noon – commentary about dispute among board members of NZ Post – accountability of SOEs – lack of balance FindingsPrinciple 4 – accountability of SOE boards a controversial issue – authoritative and expert opinion – no uphold CommentOpportunity to rebut and question news and current affairs to ensure balance outlined in Guideline 4b applies to talkback – it does not apply to items balanced in themselves or balanced within the current period of interest This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary The accountability of board members of a State Owned Enterprise was the topic addressed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer in his weekly segment on Nine to Noon. The broadcast complained about was on National Radio on 10 July 2001 at 11. 45am....

An appeal against this decision was dismissed in the High Court: CIV 2004-485-2035 PDF1. 53 MBComplaint under s....

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]A Nine to Noon programme included a segment featuring UK correspondent Dame Ann Leslie. In response to the host’s question ‘What is on your mind this week? ’, Dame Leslie commented on the British Labour Party, its leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Black Lives Matter UK organisation. The Authority did not uphold a complaint that Dame Leslie’s comments constituted an attack on Mr Corbyn, denigrated the BLM UK activists, and were inaccurate and unbalanced. Mr Corbyn and BLM UK were not treated unfairly, as both could reasonably expect to be subject to robust media scrutiny as a consequence of their public profile. While the item was a current affairs piece to which the balance standard applied, the issues were approached from Dame Leslie’s perspective and listeners would not have expected alternative views to be given....

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]An item on Nine to Noon featured an interview with the CEO of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. The Authority declined jurisdiction to accept and consider a complaint that this interview did not address issues of corruption within the Fund, finding the complaint raised matters of editorial discretion and personal preference rather than broadcasting standards, and the broadcaster was therefore correct to not accept it as a valid formal complaint. Declined JurisdictionIntroduction[1] An item on Nine to Noon featured an interview with the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (the Fund). [2] Allan Golden complained to Radio New Zealand that the segment ‘praised the earnings performance’ of the Fund with no justification....

ComplaintNine to Noon – host read out email critical of Whanau series – host highlighted grammatical and typographical errors in email – breach of right of individuals to express own opinions – breach of requirement to deal justly and fairly with person referred to in programme – failure to show impartiality on question of a controversial nature FindingsPrinciple 4 – host presented email correspondent's point of view – no uphold Guideline 4a to Principle 4 – host presented correspondent's opinion – no uphold Principle 5 – correspondent not treated unjustly or unfairly – no upholdThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary [1] During the Nine to Noon programme broadcast on National Radio on 14 August 2001, the host read out a number of responses received from listeners via phone, fax or email....

An appeal against this decision was dismissed in the High Court: CIV 2008-485-1465 PDF165. 64 KBComplaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Nine to Noon – interview with legal commentator about the Ministry of Justice’s review of the Domestic Violence Act 1995 – referred to women when talking about the victims and men when discussing the abusers – allegedly unbalancedFindings Principle 4 (balance) – not necessary to expressly acknowledge that men could be the victims of domestic violence – not upheldThis headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast[1] An item broadcast during Nine to Noon on Radio New Zealand National on 27 February 2008 featured an interview with a legal commentator, Catriona McLennan. Ms McLennan discussed a review, published by the Ministry of Justice, of implementation aspects of New Zealand’s Domestic Violence Act 1995....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Nine to Noon – interview with member of United Kingdom National Commission into Islam – presenter referred to young Muslims being recruited by terrorist groups – allegedly inaccurate and denigratory of Muslims Findings Principle 6 (Accuracy) – item accurate – not upheld Principle 7 (Fairness – denigration) – item not denigratory of Muslims – comment by presenter did not refer to Muslims generally – comment was accurate – words used were in context of serious comment about United Kingdom police policy towards Muslims – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] In Nine to Noon, broadcast on National Radio on the morning of 9 June 2004, presenter Linda Clark interviewed Robin Richardson, a member of the United Kingdom’s National Commission into Islam....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i)) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Nine to Noon – contained a discussion about the 'three strikes' legislation – involved only participants who opposed the legislation – allegedly unbalanced, inaccurate, unfair and irresponsible – broadcaster upheld part of the accuracy complaint but declined to uphold remaining aspects of the complaintFindingsStandard 4 (controversial issues) – item discussed a controversial issue of public importance – while presenter alluded to the existence of other points of view, this did not go far enough – broadcaster did not make reasonable efforts, or give reasonable opportunities, to present alternative viewpoints – upheldStandard 5 (accuracy) – two aspects of the item were misleading in the absence of balancing or challenging comment – broadcaster did not make reasonable efforts to ensure item did not mislead – upheld No Order This headnote does not form part of the decision....

Download a PDF of Decision No. 1993-107:Fudakowski and Radio New Zealand Ltd - 1993-107 PDF483. 7 KB...

ComplaintNine to Noon – Ministry of Health official described as Deputy-Director of Clinical Services and “Disinformation” – unfair – inaccurate – unbalanced FindingsPrinciple 4 and Principle 5 – subsumed under Principle 6 Principle 6 – use of word “disinformation” unfair to Ministry and Deputy Director-General – upheld OrderBroadcast of statement This headnote does not form part of the decision. Summary [1] Dr Colin Feek, the Ministry of Health’s Deputy Director-General of Clinical Services, was interviewed on Nine to Noon, on National Radio on 10 June 2003 about an audit on the way hospitals treated patients with heart problems. At the conclusion of the interview, he was described as the Deputy Director-General of Clinical Services “and Disinformation”. [2] The Ministry of Health complained to Radio New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the comment was inaccurate, unbalanced, and unfair to both the Ministry and Dr Feek....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Nine to Noon – interview with Sir Eion Edgar – allegedly in breach of law and order, controversial issues, accuracy, fairness and responsible programming FindingsStandards 2 (law and order), 4 (controversial issues), 5 (accuracy), 6 (fairness) and 8 (responsible programming) – complainant’s concerns did not raise any issues of broadcasting standards – decline to determine under section 11(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] During Nine to Noon, broadcast on Radio New Zealand National on Monday 22 February 2010, the host interviewed Sir Eion Edgar as he had recently been named Senior New Zealander of the Year....