Activists Score Victory Against Radio New Zealand Bias

[sc:graybox ]The following article was contributed by pro-Israel activists in New Zealand, Richard Parker, an employment lawyer for a media company and occasional author, Dr David Cumin, a lecturer at the University of Auckland, and Auckland-based lawyer Juliet Moses.

In late August 2014, Radio New Zealand (“RNZ”), New Zealand’s state-owned radio network, broadcast two controversial items about Israel in which, amongst other things, an interviewee stated that Israel’s actions in Gaza were “genocidal” and that “Zionism and apartheid are the spirituals twin of Nazism.”

The New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority (“BSA”) has now ruled that the broadcasts breached the standard that broadly requires controversial issues of public importance to be balanced, a serious and rare outcome.

What lead to the complaints?

In the first item, Wayne Brittenden referred to an op-ed in Haaretz by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and then, from the same newspaper, “a curiously little seen and even less discussed piece on Israel’s weapons manufacturing industry.”

The Tutu op-ed challenged Israel to ‘liberate the Palestinians’ and compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to apartheid.

The item went on to discuss Israel’s relationship with apartheid South Africa, which allegedly involved Israel selling arms to South Africa during a global boycott, and inferred that Israel exploited and in fact encouraged the war with Hamas to benefit its arms industry, and that such an industry is unethical and illegitimate.

The second item involved a live interview by Wallace Chapman with a founding member of the African National Congress’ Australian office, Kolin Thumbadoo.

In that interview, Thumbadoo asserted that:

• Zionism and apartheid are the spiritual twins of Nazism;

• Zionists collaborated with the Fascists and Nazis;

• Israel has conducted a genocidal onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza;

• There is a collaborationist part of the South African Jewish community that “we know as Zionist, but who often masquerade behind Jewish sounding organizational names” who are a “grave threat internally to the interests of South Africa…and to South Africa’s foreign policy interests.”

The complaints

In New Zealand, all television and radio broadcasters are required to adhere to various standards under the Broadcasting Standards Authority Code of Broadcasting Practice (“the Code”).

Under the Code, complainants are required to first raise the matter with the broadcaster; if they are not satisfied with the response they can then take the matter to the BSA, which will make a determination on whether the standards have been breached.

The New Zealand Jewish Council (“NZJC”), members of the New Zealand Jewish community, and non-Jewish citizens challenged both items for breaching the Code. Additionally, a UN-accredited NGO, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, wrote a letter to the Chief Executive of RNZ asking how the broadcast could be reconciled with professional standards.

The complainants alleged that the following standard (“the balance standard”) was breached:

Standard 4 – Controversial Issues – Viewpoints

 

When discussing controversial issues of public importance in news, current affairs or factual programmes, broadcasters should make reasonable efforts, or give reasonable opportunities, to present significant points of view either in the same programme or in other programmes within the period of current interest.

They also alleged that there were breaches of standards relating to accuracy, fairness, and discrimination and denigration of a section of the community on account of race or as a consequence of legitimate expression of religion, culture or political belief.

In this case, RNZ denied that it had breached any of the broadcasting standards, although it did acknowledge it could have “handled some matters better.” Accordingly, in October 2014 the NZJC and other complainants lodged formal complaints with the BSA.

The decision

On June 24, 2015 the BSA issued a provisional decision for comment from the parties and sought recommendations for orders/remedies. The provisional decision found that the balance standard had been breached by RNZ but rejected the other grounds of complaint. On August 14, 2015 a final determination was issued upholding the breach of the balance standard.

The BSA stated that the balance standard was the most relevant and so had focused its determination accordingly. It noted that:

The wording of Standard 4 allows the broadcaster to make reasonable efforts to achieve balance either within the programme or within the period of current interest. After careful consideration, we have reached the view that some of the interviewee’s comments were so extreme and focused on a particular aspect of the issue that they could not be balanced by other broadcasts dealing with the Gaza conflict generally. We also think it very unlikely that alternative perspectives could be found in other media that specifically countered the statements outlined at paragraph [23] above (for example, that Israel’s actions in Gaza were ‘genocidal’ and were akin to Nazism)…

 

We acknowledge that this was a live interview and that the programme host probably was caught off-guard by the path the interview took. Nevertheless, [Wallace Chapman] could have prepared for at least some of the comments made by [Thumbadoo], given that even a simple internet search identifies him as an activist who regularly participates in pro-Palestinian protests…

 

RNZ describes this particular host as ‘fearless’ and asking the hard questions. Unfortunately we do not think he demonstrated this here. In a 12-minute interview, he asked only five questions, none of which was particularly provocative… At no point did he challenge the interviewee’s statements; he essentially gave the interviewee free rein to espouse his views…

 

We do not consider that this broadcast enabled listeners to arrive at an informed and reasoned opinion about the July/August 2014 developments in the Gaza conflict. We are satisfied that upholding the Standard 4 complaint would not unreasonably restrict the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression because requiring the presentation of an alternative viewpoint on a matter of public interest promotes, rather than hinders, the free flow of information and free speech principles. Accordingly, we uphold the complaints under Standard 4.

The BSA determined that publication of its decision was a sufficient remedy against RNZ.

Conclusion and implications of the decision

Every year, thousands of broadcasting complaints are made to New Zealand’s various television and radio broadcasters. Since 1991, only 14 successfully upheld claims of a breach of the balance standard by a radio network. Of these, 10 (71%) have been against RNZ.

It took almost one year from the broadcast to the delivery of the final decision. In May, eight months since the broadcasts and complaints, the complainants were advised that “Due to the complexity of the issues involved and the number of complainants” the BSA would be revisiting the matter at its next meeting. It is unclear why the number of complaints should influence any decision but the time taken suggests the BSA does not uphold complaints lightly.

The NZJC, along with other members of the Jewish community and supporters of Israel in New Zealand, has become increasingly concerned about the biased and ignorant coverage in the media of matters pertaining to Israel, and no more so than during the Gaza conflict last year. As we have seen around the world, this coverage adversely affects the safety and well-being of the Jewish community.

The complainants felt that the two highly inflammatory items could not be left unchallenged, and the result was a rare vindication of impressions that RNZ is particularly biased in this regard. The decision gives encouragement to those who wish to stand up against the ideological battle being waged against Israel.

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