Posts by Russell Brown
-
A little more background, just in.
TVNZ did not seek costs against McDonald, and actually stated that such an order would not be effective. It was the BSA's decision.
TVNZ did suggest it could pass on McDonald's "non-material complaints" to the relevant people at TVNZ. I think they can do better than this, which really just makes the complaint disappear.
McDonald contributed 12% of all complaints about ONE News in 2009/10 (21 out of 174). He has had one complaint upheld.
As others have noted, he writes his complaints in a difficult-to-decipher style.
-
-
Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to jessica scott,
There are in fact many benefits to a non-interventionist approach to childbirth- which the article didn’t mention. This does, of course, always need to be weighed up against the risks to mother and child.
And I suppose reasonable people can disagree on the balance of risk -- and Chisholm came down more on one side than the other.
There are some horror stories in the feature and, yes, they're only anecdotes, but even one horror story is too many.
-
Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to B Jones,
There’s this. It’s a shame it doesn’t go very far back, though. I suppose you could compare it to this, but unless you could see a sharp change at the time of changeover between systems, it wouldn’t be much use to work out how effective the new policy is.
As I noted, my takeaway from the story was that there is no monitoring of perinatal harms apart from death of mother or baby. So birth injury that results in severe and lifelong disability isn't counted. This is not good enough.
-
The story.
And that cover.
-
Hard News: Auckland City Nights, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
You get amazing service here, but it makes me a little sick every time.
+1
The tipping system always seems to me like a form of social control.
-
Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to johnno,
From the decision:
Complaint
[2] Donald McDonald complained to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, alleging that the statement was inaccurate because “a supernova star at such close distance would barbeque the Earth”. He said that the distance from the Earth to its neighbouring galaxy Andromeda was at least 2 million light years.Standards
[3] Standard 5 of the Free-to-Air Television Code of Broadcasting Practice is relevant to the determination of this complaint. It provides:Standard 5 Accuracy
Broadcasters should make reasonable efforts to ensure that news, current affairs and factual programming:
• is accurate in relation to all material points of fact; and/or
• does not mislead.
Broadcaster’s Response to the Complainant
[4] TVNZ acknowledged that the figure in the item was incorrect. It said that the correct distance was 240 million light years. However, it considered that this distance was not a material point of fact in the item, which focused on the discovery of the supernova by a 10-year-old girl. TVNZ therefore declined to uphold the complaint.Referral to the Authority
[5] Dissatisfied with the broadcaster’s response, Mr McDonald referred his complaint to the Authority under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.Broadcaster’s Response to the Authority
[6] TVNZ referred the Authority to McDonald and RNZ,[1] in which the Authority declined to determine an accuracy complaint by Mr McDonald on the grounds that it was vexatious.Authority’s Determination
[7] The members of the Authority have viewed a recording of the broadcast complained about and have read the correspondence listed in the Appendix. The Authority determines the complaint without a formal hearing.[8] The accuracy standard only applies to “material points of fact”. In our view, Mr McDonald’s complaint does not relate to any material points of fact contained in the brief report. The focus of the item was the fact that a 10-year-old girl had discovered a supernova; its distance from Earth was peripheral to the story.
[9] Furthermore, we consider that Mr McDonald’s complaint was dealt with adequately and appropriately by the broadcaster, which accepted that the figure was incorrect, but explained that it was not material to the item.
[10] Section 11(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1989 allows the Authority to decline to determine a complaint which it considers to be frivolous, vexatious, or trivial. Pursuant to this section, we decline to determine this complaint on the grounds that the complaint by Mr McDonald was frivolous and trivial.
Broadcasters hate BSA complaints, and hate having to uphold them. On the two (I think) occasions where Media7 has received them, the issue has simply been people not liking what we’ve said, and neither has been upheld. I think one, about our scrutiny of the Let Us Spray documentary, went forward to the BSA and was not upheld. Which, in my view, was the correct decision.
I can recall dealing via Twitter with a small science whoopsie in one Media7 item -- we didn't correct it in the show, but I promised to take it up with the person who'd written it. But if it does proceed to a complaint, a small factual correction goes into a tally of complaints upheld against the broadcaster, which I think is the problem. This shouldn’t have had to go to the full BSA. But TVNZ and other broadcasters can talk to the BSA about fixing that.
-
'Kay -- I've contacted Virginia Larson and she's sending me a PDF to put up here. Giz a half an hour.
-
Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Gareth Ward,
This. I saw that cover in the supermarket and recoiled from it – there was no way I was going to purchase it to read the story.
Interesting. I didn't think it was a good cover, or that it did justice to the story, but I didn't have the same reaction as you guys did.
-
Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Lilith __,
Digital media allow a collaborative approach which can yield a better result for everybody.
And they offer the space to do it. I don't think it's reasonable to expect that every correction should take up time on the 6pm news, but certainly on the broadcaster's website, and perhaps even in a weekly half-hour programme on Sundays.