James
No address provided
Via email: James <[FYI request #29287 email]>
20 December 2024
Kia ora James
Official Information Act request dated 22 November 2024
We refer to your email dated 22 November 2024 requesting information under the
Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). The answers to your specific questions are set
out below.
Request One: On the 15th October the TVNZ breakfast show's Jenny-May Clarkson
interviewed Hikoi organiser Eru Kapa Kingi. Kingi was a former Māori party candidate,
a parliamentary staffer for the Māori party, and former Māori party candidate. None
of this information was disclosed. Please provide al communications concerning the
organising/facilitating of this interview. This should include initial reach out through to
final delivery.
Response One: Emails regarding the logistics of this interview are attached. Additional
responsive information has been withheld on the fol owing grounds:
• Section 9(2)(b) of the Act: to protect information where the making available
of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial
position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information;
• Section 9(2)(g) of the Act: to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs
through the free and frank expression of opinions by members of an
organisation in the course of their duty; and
• Section 9(2)(i) of the Act: to enable TVNZ to carry out, without prejudice or
disadvantage, commercial activities.
For context, please note that in order to operate free of influence and without fear or
favour, TVNZ treats its internal news and current affairs operations (including the
collection of source and source information for current affairs segments; and including
internal correspondence about news media activity) as commercially sensitive; release
of information about how we produce our news and current affairs content would put
us at strategic disadvantage to our competitors in the media industry, would mean
we could not carry out free and frank editorial discussions, and would mean we could
not produce news and current affairs content without disadvantage.
However, to assist with your enquiry, we note that TVNZ adheres to the Broadcasting
Standards established under the Broadcasting Act 1989. Should you consider that the
omission of the information you have identified is a breach of one of the Broadcasting
Standards, you are able to make a formal
complaint here:
https://corporate.tvnz.co.nz/contact/make-a-formal-complaint/
For completeness, Eru Kapa-Kingi was introduced as an organiser of the Hīkoi mō te
Tiriti, which was the subject of the segment.
Request Two: Please provide any guidelines/protocols the Breakfast show has for
ensuring neutrality and providing full disclosure of guests concerning their conflicts of
interests and connections with other groups or people that may material y change the
way an interview is perceived by the public.
Response Two: TVNZ adheres to the Broadcasting Standards established under the
Broadcasting Act 1989. In addition, its Editorial Policy is publicly available on its website
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/08/26/editorial-policy/
Request Three: Forty-five seconds into the interview the quote/statement 'What is
good for Māori is good for everyone' was screened 10 times across the bottom of the
screen. Neither Clarkson, Kingi or Harawira used the words, even came to close to
using those words so they could be paraphrased.
Please provide all information/communications relating to the screening of this
statement during the interview including who the quote/statement is actual y credited
to.
Please provide al pre authorised and real time text that was screened before the
interview took place and when the interview was live, if any.
Response Three: Again, the requested information has been withheld on the following
grounds:
• Section 9(2)(b) of the Act: to protect information where the making available
of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial
position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information;
• Section 9(2)(g) of the Act: to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs
through the free and frank expression of opinions by members of an
organisation in the course of their duty; and
• Section 9(2)(i) of the Act: to enable TVNZ to carry out, without prejudice or
disadvantage, commercial activities.
However, in accordance with the Act’s principle of availability, and to assist you with
your question, we note that this statement appeared in quote marks to make it clear
that it was a quote. It was taken from the off air pre-show interview with Eru Kapa-
Kingi and Hone Harawira. The attribution was left out because it would have been too
long for the existing banner space.
Please note that section 28 of the Act sets out the circumstances in which you may
make a complaint to the Ombudsman in order to seek an investigation and review of
this decision.
Yours sincerely,
Official Information Requests Team
TVNZ
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