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Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989One News – item on search for missing sailor – report stated that air force had covered an area of around 360,000 kilometres – allegedly inaccurate FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – complaint vexatious and trivial – decline to determine under section 11(a) of the Broadcasting Act This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on One News, broadcast on TV One at 6pm on Monday 29 March 2010, reported on a missing sailor whose boat had been found off the Chatham Islands – the man was still missing, but his dog was found alive on board the boat. [2] During the item, the reporter stated that a “helicopter and Airforce Orion covered an area of around 360,000 kilometres from Gisborne to the East Cape”....

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(ii) of the Broadcasting Act 1989One News – item reported that an 89-year-old man had been accused of helping to kill 28,000 Jews at a “Polish death camp” during World War II – broadcaster agreed item was inaccurate and instructed staff not to use the reference again – action taken allegedly insufficient FindingsStandard 5 (accuracy) – action taken appropriate and reasonable – not necessary to broadcast a correction – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on One News, broadcast on TV One at 6pm on 14 July 2009, reported that: An 89-year-old’s been accused of helping kill nearly 28,000 Jews in what’s set to be Germany’s last big Nazi war crimes trial. Prosecutors say retired American car worker John Demjanjuk was a guard at a Polish death camp during World War II....

The Authority has not upheld four complaints that interviews on Q+A with Israeli and Palestinian representatives breached multiple broadcasting standards. On 21 April 2024, Jack Tame from Q+A interviewed Ran Yaakoby, the Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand. On 5 May 2024, Q+A interviewed Dr Izzat Salah Abdulhadi, head of the Palestinian Delegation to New Zealand. The complaints were made under several standards and included claims that: statements made by Yaakoby and Tame were inaccurate; Tame did not push back hard enough on Yaakoby; the interviews did not provide balance; the 21 April interview was unfair to Hamas, offensive, and discriminatory. The Authority did not uphold complaints under the accuracy standard on the basis: the relevant points concerned opinion to which the standard does not apply; reasonable efforts had been made to ensure accuracy; any harm was outweighed by freedom of expression; or the points were not materially inaccurate....

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]3D reported on the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, and the stories of several girls and their families who believed that they had suffered serious health problems after being vaccinated. It also reported on the as-yet-unexplained sudden deaths of two girls who had recently received the vaccine. The Authority did not uphold a complaint from the maker of Gardasil alleging that the programme misleadingly suggested that Gardasil was unsafe and thus deceived and disadvantaged the public when there was no evidential basis for doing so. The story was well-reported, was measured in its presentation and gave viewers a range of information, which enabled them to make up their own minds about the vaccine. The Authority emphasised the high public interest in the story and in giving a platform for minority voices to be heard....

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]A ONE News item reported on a protest organised by the Sensible Sentencing Trust, which carried a petition in the name of a deceased child, demanding changes to the rules around plea bargaining. The reporter stated, ‘the protestors chose disgraced ex-MP David Garrett to deliver that message to MPs. . . Garrett resigned from Parliament six years ago for stealing the identity of a dead infant. . . ’ The Authority did not uphold Mr Garrett’s complaint that this statement was misleading, as it implied the incident being referred to occurred six years ago, as well as being unbalanced and unfair to him. The Authority found the comment was not misleading, but emphasised that Mr Garrett’s resignation occurred six years ago, which was correct....

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 43/94 Decision No: 44/94 Dated the 23rd day of June 1994 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of complaints by SHIRLEY EARLLY of Auckland Broadcaster RADIO PACIFIC LIMITED I. W. Gallaway Chairperson J. R. Morris R. A. Barraclough L. M. Dawson...

Summary[This summary does not form part of the decision. ]The Authority has not upheld complaints from 20 complainants about a segment of Punjabi talkback programme, Bhakhde Masley. During the programme, the host questioned the teachings of a deceased Sikh religious figure by posing hypothetical questions about how he and his widow, now also deceased, had children. The host implied that, given the leader’s teachings about celibacy, his widow and other family members must have had sex with animals. The complainants alleged that this discussion breached the privacy of the individuals referred to, and was degrading and humiliating. The Authority acknowledged that the segment was in poor taste, but found that the broadcast was not in breach of the standards raised by the complainants....

Summary [This summary does not form part of the decision. ]Seven Sharp featured a story about two local residents, labelled ‘herb detectives’, who were determined to track down the man they believed was responsible for stealing their herbs. The reporter and the ‘herb detectives’ visited the local market looking for the alleged thief and spoke to a woman, Shunfang Shen, who was selling herbs. The reporter asked Mrs Shen where her herbs were from, and one of the residents said, ‘It looked very much like my mint. ’ The Authority upheld a complaint from Mrs Shen that the action taken by TVNZ, in upholding her complaint that the item was inaccurate and unfair, was insufficient. The Authority acknowledged that TVNZ attempted to remedy the breach of standards, including by broadcasting a correction several days after the item....

Summary [This summary does not form part of the decision. ] An item on The Project featured an interview with a ‘political consultant and former National [Party] staffer’. The interviewee provided her perspective on why the National Party received more votes than the Labour Party in the 2017 General Election and the disparity between the election result and poll results prior to the election. The Authority did not uphold a complaint that the broadcaster’s choice of political commentator was biased and the programme was misleading by suggesting she was an ‘independent political commentator’. The introduction to the segment did not imply that the interviewee was an independent political commentator, but clearly referred to her as a former National Party staffer. As such it created an audience expectation that the interview would be approaching the topic of National’s initial electoral success from a particular perspective....

Summary [This summary does not form part of the decision. ]ONE News reported that Cadbury chocolate bars were set to ‘shrink by 10 percent’, from 220 grams to 200 grams. The Authority declined to determine the complaint that the item was inaccurate because it was wrong to use the word ‘shrink’ to refer to a weight measurement and because the difference in grams was 9. 1 percent, not 10 percent. The Authority found the complaint to be trivial as the complainant did not outline why the difference was material or why it would have impacted viewers’ understanding of the item as a whole. Declined to Determine: Accuracy   Introduction [1] ONE News reported that Cadbury chocolate bars were set to ‘shrink by 10 percent’, from 220 grams to 200 grams....

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 1998-076 Decision No: 1998-077 Dated the 23rd day of July 1998 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of complaints by ALICE HALLIWELL of Auckland Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED S R Maling Chairperson L M Loates R McLeod J Withers...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Close Up – item on the standard of care in rest homes in New Zealand – producer went undercover as a caregiver for five days in a rest home on Auckland’s North Shore – presenter and undercover producer raised a number of concerns regarding the quality of care being provided in the rest home – allegedly unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair Findings Standard 4 (balance) – owners provided with an adequate opportunity to respond to allegations – broadcaster made reasonable efforts to provide significant viewpoints on the controversial issue discussed – not upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – undercover producer’s opinions and impressions not statements of fact – decline to determine whether undercover producer contracted an MRSA infection from rest home – not upheld Standard 6 (fairness) – legitimate use of covert filming – in the public interest to broadcast the material – item treated…...

Complaint under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989Sunrise – interview with representative of End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT) about the release of a US report on human trafficking – allegedly unbalanced and inaccurate Findings Standard 4 (balance) – item offered one individual’s opinion on the report and trafficking and prostitution generally – did not discuss a controversial issue of public importance – not upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – interviewee made comments from ECPAT’s perspective – clearly distinguishable as comment and opinion – not upheld This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] During Sunrise, broadcast on TV3 from 7am to 9am on 6 June 2008, one of the programme’s hosts announced that the US State Department had released its annual report on human trafficking, which “contains some strong words on New Zealand’s legalised prostitution system”....

BEFORE THE BROADCASTING STANDARDS AUTHORITY Decision No: 1997-006 Dated the 23rd day of January 1997 IN THE MATTER of the Broadcasting Act 1989 AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint by N E ARCHER of Rotorua Broadcaster TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED J M Potter Chairperson L M Loates R McLeod A Martin...

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989One News – item about an audio tape purporting to carry the voice of Osama Bin Laden – reporter said that “Bin Laden threatened to again take revenge on America as he did on 9/11” – allegedly inaccurateFindingsDecline to determine complaint under s. 11(b) of Broadcasting Act 1989This headnote does not form part of the decision. Broadcast [1] An item on One News at 6pm on 20 January 2006 reported that an audio tape, purporting to carry the voice of Osama Bin Laden, had been broadcast by a television network in the Middle East. The tape had warned of new terrorist actions against the United States. The reporter said: In the tape that aired on Al Jazeera, Bin Laden threatened to again take revenge on America as he did on 9/11....

SummaryAn interview with physicist Dr Paul Davies focussed on what the interviewer described as "one of the world’s greatest mysteries, how did life first get started" in an episode of the BBC series, Discovery, broadcast on National Radio on 7 October 1998. Dr Davies hypothesised on the processes of mutation and natural selection, and the possible injection of information into genomes through Darwinian evolution. Mr Fox complained to Radio New Zealand Limited, the broadcaster, that Dr Davies’ comments were inaccurate and unbalanced. He said it was incorrect to state that mutation and natural selection increased information in the genome. The programme, he wrote, should have included the Creationist view about the origin of information in living things. Responding, RNZ denied that the comments were inaccurate, and pointed out that they were the scientifically-based opinions of Dr Davies, had been identified as such, and were reported truthfully and accurately....

Summary A news bulletin on Tonight, concerning China’s decision to veto a continued United Nations peacekeeping force in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), was broadcast on 26 February 1999 at 10. 40pm. The item used the name "Macedonia" on several occasions when referring to the country officially recognised by the United Nations as FYROM. The Greek Orthodox Community of Wellington and Suburbs Inc. complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, that the use of the name Macedonia for FYROM was inaccurate and untruthful. It also complained that the broadcast was unbalanced and unfair because the UN had not recognised any country by that name. TVNZ declined to uphold the complaint, arguing that it was valid to use the name Macedonia for FYROM when the context made it clear which territory was being referred to....

Summary An item on the Larry Williams Programme discussed New Zealand’s military ties with Indonesia and the conflict in East Timor. The host described Indonesian military officers training in New Zealand as "thugs". The item was broadcast on Newstalk ZB on 10 September 1999 at 4. 15 pm. Mr Mahoney complained to The Radio Network of New Zealand Limited, the broadcaster, that the host’s reference to Indonesian armed services members as "thugs" was unacceptable, and that the description was based on hearsay rather than fact. TRN responded that the Indonesian Army had been described by an interviewee on the programme as an accomplice to genocide in East Timor. The Indonesian personnel in New Zealand could not be separated from the Indonesian Army as a whole, it wrote. The host’s comment was based on fact and reflected fair opinion, it concluded, and declined to uphold the complaint....

Complaint under section 8(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 198960 Minutes – examined differences in breast cancer treatment in Australia and New Zealand, and the funding of a drug called Herceptin – interviewed an Australian and a New Zealander with similar cancer and compared their prognoses – allegedly unbalanced and inaccurate Findings Standard 4 (balance) – broadcaster failed to present significant viewpoints on the controversial issue within the programme, and within the period of current interest – due to the presentation of the programme and the nature of the issue, the period of current interest limited to a short time after the broadcast – alternative perspectives were not presented – upheld Standard 5 (accuracy) – two statements would have misled viewers – upheld OrderSection 13(1)(a) – broadcast of a statement Section 16(4) – payment of costs to the Crown $3,000 This headnote does not form part of the decision....