TVNZ ruled wrong on Watson claims

The producer of a documentary on convicted murderer Scott Watson has had his complaint that TVNZ made inaccurate statements in a Sunday item upheld by the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

Keith Hunter complained that TVNZ set out to contradict some of the arguments presented in his documentary Murder on the Blade? in a Sunday programme screened on June 27 last year.

He also complained that the Sunday presenter made inaccurate statements about Watson.

The Sunday item focused on Coral Branch, who married Watson in prison, where he is serving a life sentence for the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope.

The programme used brief sequences from Murder on the Blade?, in which Mr Hunter said Watson had been wrongly convicted.

He said TVNZ told him that the item was about Watson's wedding and that excerpts from the documentary would be used to "balance" the item's editorial thrust.

That did not happen, Mr Hunter said.

Had he been aware of the tone of the Sunday item, he would not have given TVNZ access to the film.

TVNZ said it was "bewildered" by Mr Hunter's complaint, as it seemed to suggest that because TVNZ had screened Murder on the Blade?, it endorsed the documentary's point of view.

The broadcaster also said that statements made in the Sunday item had been given in evidence at the trial.

The BSA found that some of the six statements which were the subject of Mr Hunter's complaint were inaccurate.

Authority chairwoman Joanne Morris said the matter was too complex to order TVNZ to make a correcting statement.

- NZPA