Media Insider: TVNZ breached accuracy standards in coverage of Donald Trump comments – Broadcasting Standards Authority

TVNZ has been ordered to broadcast a statement on its 6pm news after complaints were upheld about its coverage of Donald Trump comments.

A day after the announcement of its imminent demise, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has bared its teeth, revealing it has upheld complaints about TVNZ’s coverage of comments made by US President Donald Trump.

It said the broadcaster had not made “reasonable efforts” to ensure the accuracy of a statement made by a 1News presenter as they introduced a 6pm news story featuring Trump’s comments.

The authority found TVNZ’s report last September breached accuracy standards with the way it referenced Trump’s comments following the arrest of a man suspected of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The 1News presenter stated “when the President was asked what he’d do to unite the country after this tragedy, he said, ‘I couldn’t care less’, blaming the radical left, and vowing to go after political violence”.

The authority said the report was accompanied by a large banner with a photo of Trump and the words, “I couldn’t care less”.

But three complainants said the report misrepresented the President’s statement.

The story later showed the fuller (although also edited) context of Trump’s exchange during a Fox News TV panel:

Fox presenter: “How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?”

President Trump: “Well, I’ll tell you something that’s gonna get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. [brief cut] The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy."

The authority said it found “the obvious interpretation was that the phrase about not caring related to getting in trouble for comments he was about to make”.

TVNZ initially defended its report, but the authority said it “carried the potential to seriously mislead the public about what the President said. In the current divided social and political climate, we consider further care is required in reporting on comments of this nature”.

The authority also referred to the fuller excerpt of the interview later in the 1News broadcast, but said it did not consider this had resolved the earlier inaccuracy.

TVNZ ordered to make statement

TVNZ has been ordered by the authority to broadcast a statement on the 6pm news, summarising that the complaints had been upheld based on the accuracy standard.

The authority said “we consider ordering a broadcast statement is the appropriate response to the harm arising in this case”.

“A broadcast statement will publicly denounce the breach, censure the broadcaster and help rectify the harm caused in the same forum and for a similar audience, which would not necessarily be achieved by our decision and any resulting publicity alone.”

The authority – which faces abolition following a Government announcement yesterday that it plans to move to self-regulation of the media industry – did not uphold the complaints based on fairness and balance standards.

The authority said it “acknowledged TVNZ had indicated the report reflected its genuine interpretation of Trump’s comments”.

However, in a statement today, the authority said it found “the potential harm from inaccurate reporting outweighed the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression”.

“The broadcast carried the potential to seriously mislead the public about what the President said.

“In the current divided social and political climate, further care is required in reporting on comments of this nature.

“Audiences expect news media to report carefully and accurately on statements made by political figures, particularly where that forms the basis for scrutiny or criticism of them.”

It said the broadcaster had not made “reasonable efforts” to ensure the accuracy of its statement and “the statement’s accuracy was clearly capable of being determined by the broadcaster, given they had the clip of Trump’s full comments”.

TVNZ pointed to other media coverage to defend its position, however “the authority did not consider TVNZ’s interpretation was reasonably available”.

“We note TVNZ was not simply re-reporting supplied content in this broadcast; it created the introduction and selected the text and images to be used, putting particular emphasis on Trump’s edited quote,” the authority said.

It said TVNZ had “now accepted” the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s decision “and advised that the 1News team will use it as an opportunity to review its scripting processes".

A TVNZ spokeswoman said: “We accept the BSA’s decision and we’ll work through the next steps required by the determination.”

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.