Broadcasting Standards Authority

The chief of the country’s most powerful media watchdog says we need new laws now to hold media to account in future. The outgoing government had a plan for one single body to oversee rules for all… Video, Audio

Dolphins mating in a prime-time TV documentary was deemed a breach of broadcasting standards this week by the broadcasting watchdog - but dismissing official information and experts on air during… Audio

Are New Zealanders' attitudes towards offensive language changing? A recent survey by the Broadcasting Standards Authority seems to suggest they might be. Audio

ZB’s Mike Hosking called Meghan Markle “a hussy” on the air earlier this year. It was a rude and sexist slur on someone he didn’t know at all  - and it prompted formal complaints to the broadcasting… Audio

When Simon Bridges called the Speaker "a twat" in Parliament, media pondered whether this unparliamentary insult was fit to print  - and broadcast. They all decided it was - with one surprising… Audio

This week the broadcasting watchdog upheld a complaint that comments about Covid-19 death rates by Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking were misleading - and highlighted “the importance of data literacy” in the… Audio

Law commentator Dr Ursula Cheer from the University of Canterbury digs down into some of the decisions from the Broadcasting Standards Authority following the March 15 mosque shootings.  Audio

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has sanctioned Sky TV for screening snippets of the gunman’s video of the Christchurch mosque attacks in March. But other broadcasters escaped censure here and in… Audio

Back in the day, nudity on TV was rare and the isolated sightings were almost national events. There's plenty of it available on-demand and on any device these days, but does it do us harm? The… Audio

‘Freedom in Broadcasting without Harm’ is the newly-stated mission of our most powerful media watchdog. The BSA is also asking if broadcasting standards need to change after the Christchurch mosque… Audio

Newstalk ZB broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan has been censured for Pacific Island slurs in a ruling that contains uncharacteristically strong language from the official broadcasting watchdog. Audio

Rude words and bad language are a problem for the new media. But there's little consistency in words they think we should be shielded from and how they try to keep them clean. Mediawatch looks at some… Audio