KEY POINTS:
Complaints of child exploitation and unfairness against TV One's Close Up show have been upheld by the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
On the show broadcast last November 14, the presenter interviewed the three children of a Chinese couple embroiled in a long-running court battle with the Immigration Service.
The children had been born in New Zealand. Their father had been deported in 2004 and their mother was fighting a similar fate.
A viewer wrote to Television New Zealand saying the interview with the children, aged 9, 7, and 6, was "intrusive and damaging" and showed "an inexcusable lack of consideration for [the 7-year-old girl's] feelings".
The child, who was interpreting for her mother, burst into tears when the interviewer discussed her last remaining parent being sent away.
The complainant said questioning the child on national television was "an appalling use of adult power over children".
TVNZ told the complainant it had to balance the privacy rights of the three children with the public interest in the immigration process and its own freedom of information obligations. The mother had given permission for the interview, and the children's identities and plight were already public, TVNZ said.
Further, it contended its presenter had treated the children gently and with obvious concern for their welfare. It did it agree the pictures it aired suggested the children were humiliated or exploited.
Not happy with TVNZ's response, the viewer took the case to theBroadcasting Standards Authority.
She noted that the children had also been interviewed on TV3, and though she still thought they should not have been interviewed, TV3's story was much more balanced.
The authority found that TVNZ failed to use sensitivity and discretion when interviewing a child, had exploited a child, and the story was unfair.
"TVNZ was expected to exercise discretion and display a degree of sensitivity when dealing with the young girl ... the broadcaster failed to meet this requirement," the ruling said.
"It is clear from the broadcast that the presenter's line of questioning upset the 7-year-old girl and deepened her distress at a very difficult time in her life."
The authority ordered TVNZ to pay $1500 costs and screen a summary of the ruling during Close Up within one month. It was also told to post a statement on its website for as long as the story was available to viewers online.
The authority said its ruling should not be taken as an injunction against interviewing children.
- NZPA
