Annual Report 2024
The Annual Report 2024 outlines the Authority's key achievements over the past year and details progress against long term outcomes and objectives. It includes performance information such as complaint determinations and the Authority's financial statements.
A copy of the full report is available for download for the year ended 30 June 2024.
BSA Annual Report 2024 (year 2023/2024)
Introduction from Chair
Tēnā koutou e te hunga e whai pānga ki ngā mahi papaoho, ki a koutou hoki e pānui ana i ēnei kōrero, kā nui te mihi ki a koutou, ki a tātau.
The last financial year has been an exceptionally challenging one for broadcasters, with significant cuts and closures announced by several of our largest news providers. News and current affairs generate the majority of our complaints, a signifier of the importance these programmes have in our society. While broadcasters have been adapting and responding to changing audience habits over the last decade or more, we acknowledge the difficulties local media face in competing with massive digital platforms and their global reach.
It is not only news and current affairs that are struggling – the outlook is tough for all creators and providers of local content. It is vital we continue to see and hear stories made by and about our own people – what we see and hear contributes to our sense of national identity, reflecting our society back to us.
The Authority takes seriously its obligations to uphold society’s standards and represent the views and interests of Aotearoa New Zealand’s diverse communities. This year we commissioned and published several research projects that examine how our broadcasting standards system serves Māori, other ethnic communities, and gender diverse people. Some of the results have been sobering and shine a light on the harm caused by the perpetuation of stereotypes and racial discrimination in the media. Others are reassuring, like our litmus testing of decisions concerning reporting on issues of gender identity, which showed the vast majority of New Zealanders consider the Authority is handling these decisions appropriately.
This year the Authority has noticed an increase in complaints raising the standards of accuracy, balance and discrimination and denigration, centred on news and current affairs reporting, where the crux of the complaint is that the complainant thinks the broadcast should have been done differently. We regularly receive complaints – from all sides of the political spectrum – alleging ‘bias’ in media, where the perceived bias is that the broadcast in question presents information the complainant disagrees with.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and has been at the core of the Authority’s purpose for all of its 35-year history. It is the Authority's role to uphold community standards, and our community includes the voices of people we disagree with, not just people who think and feel the same as us.
The low rate of upheld decisions in recent years indicates to us that the media are generally doing a good job of reporting with objectivity. Having said that, it is not a requirement that news is reported free from bias or subjective opinion – it is not a breach of broadcasting standards to report news in a way that favours one ‘side’ or the other. Audiences have the choice as to where they receive their news and are free to switch off – or switch to another source – if they do not want to hear stories of a particular persuasion.
It is of concern that public trust in the media and public institutions appears to be falling, according to research from a range of sources. The drivers behind this lack of trust are complex, but do reflect in part a divisiveness and decline in social cohesion in recent years. A free and independent media is a cornerstone of democracy – journalists are the eyes and ears on what is happening in this country, not only in the halls of Parliament but in councils, private businesses and in our own backyards.
Some of the complaints we have dismissed this year include complaints that:
- certain events or topics were not covered by news programmes
- news presenters used terms the complainant disagreed with (eg referring to Hamas 'fighters' rather than 'terrorists')
- news stories did not present angles the complainant felt should have been included
- news stories contained opinion when they should have been limited to objective facts.
These are all matters of editorial discretion and generally not considered to be a breach of broadcasting standards. There are times when the exclusion of certain angles from a story may breach the balance standard but these are rare – for the most part, it is up to broadcasters to decide the content of their programming. It would be inappropriate for the Authority to dictate how a story should be covered.
We continue to receive complaints from people who do not like hearing te reo Māori spoken on television or radio. In response, we have maintained our position that it is not a breach of broadcasting standards to use a national language. Latest census data shows a third of young people living in Aotearoa are of Māori descent or ethnicity, and recent research indicates that, far from being a source of division, young people in particular see Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a powerful symbol promoting mutual understanding and reconciliation.
It is our hope that in the next financial year we will see some progress towards the regulatory reform which has been growing increasingly urgent for the last 15 years. Legislative change is necessary to ensure the right to freedom of expression can continue to be effectively balanced against harm caused by breaches of the standards expected by New Zealand communities.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini.
My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.
Susie Staley, MNZM
Chair
A limited number of print copies are available. To enquire about a print copy, email: info@bsa.govt.nz
A media release summarising major themes and achievements from the past year is available here.