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A segment on The Project reported on ‘hateful attacks’ occurring during Pride month, including claims of discrimination at Bethlehem College (and the Ministry of Education’s announcement it will investigate the issue) and the burning down of a Rainbow Youth centre in Tauranga. The segment included an interview with a rainbow activist who considered ‘extremist Christians’ had burnt the centre down. The presenters discussed the issue following the report and noted they hoped the investigation would bring about ‘some change in a place that really needs it. ’ The complainant considered the segment breached various standards as the cause of the fire was under investigation at the time of the broadcast, and the College was portrayed unfairly. The Authority did not uphold the complaint, finding the relevant comments did not reach the high threshold justifying a restriction on freedom of expression....

ComplaintDestiny Television: Homosexuality, Religion and God – series of six programmes delivering religious sermons – denigration of and discrimination against homosexual and transsexual people – offensive – inconsistent with legislation – errors of fact – not impartial – TVNZ upheld complaint in part – apologised – removed series from repeat broadcast – dissatisfied with action taken on aspect upheld – dissatisfied with aspects not upheld Findings(1) Action taken on Standard 6 – insufficient – uphold (2) Standard 2 Guideline 2a – did not involve principle of law – no uphold (3) Standard 4, Standard 5 – not relevant – not a news, current affairs or other factual programme – no uphold OrderComplaints referred back to broadcaster under s. 13(1)(c) for further consideration of action to be taken This headnote does not form part of the decision....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint concerning an interview on Breakfast. In a discussion concerning Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech, the host stated to ACT Party Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden ‘You mentioned that, division was from the previous Government. I mean, come on, you look at the Treaty of Waitangi. You must be able to read the room in terms of how the nation is feeling towards that Bill by your party. ’ The complainant considered the host’s implication that this division was caused by ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill was inaccurate, unbalanced and unfair. The Authority found that the question was comment, analysis or opinion to which the accuracy standard did not apply. The other standards either did not apply or were not breached. Not Upheld: Accuracy, Balance, Fairness...

The Authority has upheld an accuracy complaint about a statement, ‘Public submissions for Phase Two of the Inquiry closes at midnight tonight’, in a 1News item reporting on the deadline for submissions to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned. The Authority found the statement was materially inaccurate as the correct deadline was the following night and, in the context of the broadcast, this was a material point of fact. The COVID-19 Inquiry’s communications regarding the deadline for public submissions could have been clearer, but TVNZ did not make reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy. It relied on information from official press releases and communications by the Inquiry but did not seek clarification of the ambiguous deadline from a relevant person/organisation....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint an interview on Midday Report with a transgender activist, who discussed whether Immigration New Zealand should allow Posie Parker to enter New Zealand, breached the accuracy, balance and fairness standards. The complainant considered: the host’s description of Parker as an ‘anti-trans activist,’ along with other comments made by the interviewee, were inaccurate; the host was biased; the interview was unbalanced as it did not include the perspective of a women’s rights activist; and that it was unfair to Parker and her supporters. The Authority did not uphold the concerns, finding the broadcast was materially accurate, was clearly approaching the topic from a particular perspective, and did not result in any unfairness. Not Upheld: Accuracy, Balance, Fairness...

The Authority did not uphold a complaint that an interview on Morning Report with Martin Sellner, the leader of an Austrian far-right group, was unbalanced or misleading. Interviewer Corin Dann questioned Mr Sellner on the donation he had received from the alleged Mosque attacker and Mr Sellner’s choice to give some of the money to Victim Support, a charity assisting victims of the Mosque attacks. In response to other questions, Mr Sellner also provided some comment regarding his ideologies. During the interview, Mr Dann questioned whether Mr Sellner had a role in radicalising the alleged attacker and whether Mr Sellner felt any responsibility for the attacks. The Authority found that the balance standard was not breached considering the clear approach of the broadcast, focussing on the perspective of Mr Sellner, the introduction prior to the interview and Mr Dann’s questioning of Mr Sellner....

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]An item on ONE News reported on incidents of violence in Israel and Palestine. The newsreader said, ‘Road blocks are in place and thousands of police and soldiers are patrolling across Israel as it tries to stop a wave of violence’, and then crossed to a correspondent reporting from East Jerusalem. The item also went on to report on other incidents of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, including in Gaza. The Authority upheld a complaint that the item was inaccurate because East Jerusalem is internationally recognised as being part of Palestine, not Israel, and viewers would have been misled into thinking that much of the violence took place in Israel. Upheld: AccuracyNo OrderIntroduction[1] An item on ONE News reported on incidents of violence in Israel and Palestine....

Summary [This summary does not form part of the decision. ]An item on Native Affairs, entitled ‘Bones of Contention’, reported on the discovery of ‘kōiwi’ (human remains) at a development site in Devonport, and apparent tensions between iwi and the owner and developer of the site, Redback Develop Ltd. The Authority did not uphold the complaint from Redback that the item contained inaccurate information about the development and the discovery of kōiwi. Nor did the Authority uphold the complaint that the content of the panel discussion was misleading. The broadcaster treated Redback fairly and made reasonable efforts to put forward Redback’s position, by inviting onto the programme the individual who it had been referred to as the appropriate person to comment....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint regarding the question ‘How can anyone trust anything that you say? ’ put to Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health, following the positive tests of two women who were released from managed isolation on compassionate grounds. Dr Bloomfield’s answers to the question (which was posed twice) were shown on-air. Viewers would not have been left with an unduly negative impression of him. As a public health official he is reasonably subject to robust scrutiny, especially during a pandemic. The fairness standard was accordingly not breached and the remaining standards did not apply. Not Upheld: Fairness, Accuracy, Balance, Discrimination and Denigration...

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]A segment on Morning Report discussed one Auckland individual’s challenge to Auckland Council to open a discussion about removing or altering a monument to Colonel Marmaduke Nixon in Ōtāhuhu. The item briefly summarised Colonel Nixon’s role in colonialism and in the Waikato land wars, including the invasion of Rangiaowhia. The Authority did not uphold a complaint that the item lacked balance and was inaccurate in its account of the events at Rangiaowhia. The Authority found the item did not purport to provide a comprehensive examination of what occurred at Rangiaowhia. Rather, the item focused on one individual’s challenge to the Council to consider removing or altering the monument. In this context, it was not required in the interests of either balance or accuracy to present alternative accounts of the historical events....

In an episode of The AM Show, host, Duncan Garner, interviewed economist Cameron Bagrie on the topic of dropping interest rates. During the interview, Mr Bagrie commented regarding the risk of people no longer putting money in the bank, saying, ‘the banks need the money in the bank, because they gotta … get a dollar in the door before they can put the money out the door in the form of a loan. ’ The Authority did not uphold the complaint that the item breached the accuracy standard. The Authority found that Mr Bagrie’s statement was clearly distinguishable as analysis, comment or opinion so the accuracy standard does not apply. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]A ONE News bulletin included an item on politicians' attendance at the Big Gay Out festival. The newsreader said, 'The community makes up to 10 percent of New Zealand's population and MPs were keen to show their support'. The Authority did not uphold the complaint that this statement and in particular the figure of 10 percent was inaccurate and misleading. It was expressed as an approximate figure only. There is no data available showing the exact size of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LBGT) community against which to assess the accuracy of the statement. Not Upheld: AccuracyIntroduction[1] A ONE News item covered the Big Gay Out event in Auckland. The newsreader introduced the item by saying: The importance of the gay vote was evident today as a pack of politicians joined thousands at Auckland's Big Gay Out festival....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about a Morning Report interview with Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer concerning the Israel/Gaza war. The complaint alleged the interview was unbalanced because no alternative perspective was presented to counter Ngarewa-Packer’s comments that Israel’s actions in Palestine amounted to genocide and apartheid, among other things, and that those statements were also inaccurate. The Authority acknowledged people may not agree with the terms used by Ngarewa-Packer during the interview and some would find them inflammatory, but ultimately found restricting the broadcaster’s and Ngarewa-Packer’s right to freedom of expression would be unjustified....

Warning: This decision discusses issues of sexual abuse of children and suicide. The Authority has not upheld a complaint that documentary 1 Special: The Lost Boys of Dilworth was inaccurate by not mentioning the denomination or titles of school chaplains involved in sexual abuse of students, or a complaint that the inclusion of re-enactments of memories of survivors re-traumatised victims of abuse, promoted sexual offending against children, breached privacy and was unfair to child actors involved. The Authority found that omission to mention the denomination or title of chaplains would not have materially altered the audience’s understanding of the documentary. The Authority also found that the inclusion of re-enactments did not breach the standards nominated, noting in particular that audience members (including survivors of abuse) were given appropriate information to make informed viewing decisions, no re-enactment depicted sexual violence and the offending of paedophiles was condemned throughout....

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....

The Authority has not upheld a complaint that a broadcast of Mediawatch, which contained commentary on a recently released Media Council decision concerning an article about puberty blockers, breached the balance, accuracy and fairness standards. The Authority found the programme was sufficiently balanced, noting its focus was on the Media Council’s decision (including its implications for journalists) and that it did not purport to be a balanced examination of the safety or reversibility of puberty blockers. It found alleged inaccuracies in the broadcast constituted comment, analysis or opinion to which the accuracy standard does not apply. Taking into account the Media Council’s role as a public-facing organisation, the Authority noted it can reasonably expect its decisions to be subject to public scrutiny, and found the critique of its decision did not result in unfairness. Not Upheld: Balance, Accuracy, Fairness...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint under the accuracy standard about a 1News item reporting on the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The complaint alleged the reporter’s statement in the item, ‘No time to escape’, referring to Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza, was inaccurate because the Israeli Prime Minister had ‘warned the people of Gaza to get out fast’. Noting the wide range of information and perspectives covered in the eight-minute segment, the Authority found the comment complained about did not result in the item being materially inaccurate or misleading, or cause harm that outweighed the public interest or the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression. Not Upheld: Accuracy...

The Authority has not upheld two complaints that it was inaccurate and/or unbalanced for an item on 1News to describe land in central Auckland as being ‘gifted’ by Ngāti Whātua to the Crown in 1840. The Authority found it was not materially inaccurate to describe the land in this way in the context of an item focused on Ngāti Whātua’s call to change Auckland Anniversary Day. Further, any harm caused by not including a detailed explanation of the land transfer did not outweigh the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression. The balance standard did not apply. Not Upheld: Accuracy, Balance...

The Authority has not upheld a complaint the documentary Web of Chaos breached multiple standards. The complainant alleged the broadcast represented ‘women who like sewing and interior design as extremists’, which was allegedly ‘racist, sexist, anti-Christian and anti-women of Celtic origin’, lacked any balancing comment from women involved in the community, contained multiple inaccuracies, and was unfair. The Authority found the broadcast did not discriminate against or denigrate any of the nominated sections of the community and the broadcast was materially accurate. This was because the relevant comments were not claiming that all people participating in online craft communities were white nationalists, but rather these communities (like many other online communities) were exposing inadvertent users to extremist ideas. The balance and fairness standards did not apply. Not Upheld: Discrimination and Denigration, Accuracy, Balance, Fairness...