Authority finds 20/20 inexact

A television documentary about the Phenomena Academy in Fiordland was balanced and fair but its accuracy was cause for complaint, the Broadcasting Standards Authority found in a decision it released yesterday.

The academy complained to the authority after CanWest TVWorks broadcast on TV3 on September 5 last year a 20/20 documentary, saying the documentary was unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair.

In its decision the authority did not uphold the balance and fairness complaints but said two statements in the programme were inaccurate. It attached no order to its decision.

The programme carried the stories of four former students of the academy's founder Aiping Wang, who were critical of the academy's teachings and Ms Wang's teachings.

It examined the former students' concerns that the academy - a New Zealand Qualifications Authority accredited institution at Takaro Lodge that teaches how to be healthy and happy - and Ms Wang made fanciful claims about what it could teach, including the ability to fly and see into the future.

The academy's general manager, Sarah Dujmovic, complained that academy representatives were given inadequate opportunity to respond to the allegations and that the broadcast focused unduly on the negative view of the former students.

In its decision the authority said it did not uphold the complaints about balance and fairness because academy representatives were given adequate opportunity to respond to allegations and their views were clearly communicated.

But it did uphold complaints about accuracy, saying two statements made in the programme were inadequate.

By saying "in China she used to be an insurance clerk" the programme was wrong in that Ms Wang was the director of an insurance company in China, in a province with a population of about 40 million.

The programme also made the statement "four followers left the lodge in the small hours of the morning ... " which the authority agreed was inaccurate and misleading.

"The authority considers that the statement, coupled with visuals of people leaving in darkness by torchlight, created a misleading impression of a secretive and clandestine departure," it said.

"Based on uncontested information provided by the complaint, this was not the case."

- NZPA