Tobacco Institute of New Zealand Limited of Auckland v. Television New Zealand Ltd

The Tobacco Institute of New Zealand (Institute) complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority of New Zealand (Authority) that Television New Zealand (TVNZ) had broadcasted a documentary about the tobacco industry, which allegedly portrayed tobacco industry executives in an inaccurate and unbalanced manner and encouraged employment discrimination of Maori women by depicting them as heavy smokers. The Institute claimed that such distortions violated broadcasting laws, which require standards of accuracy and reasonableness in reporting. The Authority dismissed the complaint, finding TVNZ did not present inaccurate information because the documentary adequately distinguished statements of opinion from fact. The Authority also found that TVNZ had not presented an unbalanced depiction of the tobacco industry because TVNZ's focus on the industry was "peripheral" to the program's larger anti-smoking theme. The Authority further found that the comments made about Maori women and smoking were too tenuous to subject Maori women to employment discrimination.

Tobacco Institute of New Zealand Limited of Auckland v. Television New Zealand Ltd, 2000-036, Broadcasting Standards Authority of New Zealand (2000).

  • New Zealand
  • Mar 9, 2000
  • Broadcasting Standards Authority of New Zealand
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Parties

Plaintiff The Tobacco Institute of New Zealand Limited

Defendant Television New Zealand LTD

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

None

"The tobacco industry’s position was advanced in the programme by its representative, Mr Maguire. The Authority considers that while the Tobacco Institute may be unhappy about the extent of that coverage, the key questions concerning the industry’s legitimacy and Mr Delamere’s comments were put to Mr Maguire and his answers to these were broadcast. The questions appeared to the Authority to have been put to Mr Maguire in a straightforward way and the Authority considers that he had adequate opportunity to address the issues. Those were the relevant matters requiring balance. In response to the complaint that the programme should have included balancing material from people who enjoyed smoking, the Authority notes that the Tobacco Institute has not made clear what further information was available from the industry or from smokers that would have illuminated better the points under discussion. Apart from information the Tobacco Institute said was given to Assignment programme makers about the tobacco industry’s support of a campaign to reduce smoking among young people, no other content appears to have been presented by the Tobacco Institute to the programme makers for inclusion in the programme. The Authority concurs with TVNZ’s observation that it is no longer debatable that smoking has harmful effects, and TVNZ was under no obligation to revisit that issue. As to the anti-smoking campaign information relating to children, the Authority accepts that its inclusion in the programme might have shown both the Tobacco Institute and the tobacco companies in a better light and that, given the programme’s overall emphasis, it was arguably relevant. However, the Authority accepts that its inclusion was a matter for the editorial judgment for Assignment’s programme makers and it considers the failure to refer to that information was not sufficient in the circumstances to justify a finding of imbalance or partiality."