Craig v Television New Zealand Ltd

On October 13, 2025, Richard Craig, an individual, filed a complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) against Television New Zealand Ltd, the owner of channel TVNZ. At issue was TVNZ’s Breakfast programme that followed New Zealand Government’s announcement of its intention to reduce New Zealand’s legislated 2050 methane target in the Climate Change Response Act 2002. In the programme, two interviews on the 2050 methane target were included: the first with the Executive Director of a climate NGO, and the second, 45 minutes later, with New Zealand’s Prime Minister.

According to Craig, the Breakfast show breached the balance and fairness standards set out in the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand. Specifically, Craig alleged that the NGO representative received “patsy questioning” while the Prime Minister was “scrutinised with vigour”, when both sides should have been treated equally.

On April 1, 2026, the BSA did not uphold the complaint.

In relation to balance, the BSA accepted that the balance standard applied, as the broadcast was regarding a “controversial issue of public importance,” of which the “Government’s decision to reduce the methane emissions target” fell into. However, the BSA was satisfied that TVNZ met the requirements for balance by including interviews that presented opposing perspectives, with both sides having ample opportunity to present and discuss their views.

Responding to the complainant's concerns about the interview style and approach, the BSA noted that “the balance standard does not dictate how perspectives are to be presented or what questions should be asked to elicit those perspectives — those are within the broadcaster's editorial discretion.” Further, the balance standard does not require that each perspective be given equal airtime. Instead, the balance standard requires only that broadcasters give a “fair voice to significant alternative perspectives,” which “clearly happened here, with Lawyers for Climate Action's position being the lead “angle” near the beginning of the programme, and [the Prime Minister] presenting the Government's position in response later in the programme.” The BSA did not agree that there was any “skew” in the way these interviews were presented.

In relation to the fairness standard, the BSA noted that “fairness” does not address the audience or whether facts or issues are “fairly” or misleadingly conveyed, and was not relevant to the complainant’s concern that the presenter’s interview approach and TVNZ’s “skewed presentation” created unfairness for viewers. Instead, BSA held that these concerns were more appropriately addressed under the balance standard above, in considering whether the interview approaches resulted in an unbalanced discussion or left viewers uninformed (which the BSA found not to be the case).