The Broadcasting Standards Authority has found that TVNZ did not treat former MP Graeme Lee fairly when it filmed him arriving at a house from which a private investigator was recovering goods.
Mr Lee had complained to the authority that Private Investigators was unfair to him and breached his privacy. The authority upheld the first complaint but not the second.
The programme showed Mr Lee, a gospel minister, arriving for a prayer meeting at a house where a private investigator was recovering goods.
Mr Lee maintained that the manner in which he featured in the programme was "outrageous, scurrilous and very damaging to [his] credibility and character."
He also contended that he had not consented to the filming or to use of the footage.
TVNZ responded that Mr Lee had not refused permission for the filming or for the use of the footage.
It did not consider Mr Lee's privacy had been invaded by the filming or by broadcasting the programme.
The authority said that while Mr Lee's relationship with the householder might have been private and the footage could have given viewers the impression he was tainted by association, these facts were not "highly offensive and objectionable" - factors necessary to find privacy had been breached.
But it did find he was acting in a private capacity and that the description of him as a "devout" Christian could have been perceived as disparaging in the context in which it was used.
The authority said Mr Lee could reasonably have believed the footage would not be used because he had no part in the matter which prompted it.
"In the majority's opinion, these factors contributed to the unfairness which was created by making Mr Lee the central character in the story, without his explicit consent," the authority said in its finding.
It chose not to impose a penalty.
- NZPA
TV show 'unfair' to ex-MP
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