Watchdog rejects flap over neighbour's fluttering flag

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has dismissed a complaint against an item on TVNZ's Holmes show featuring a dispute about the flying of a New Zealand flag.

Former Hamilton Mayor Sir Ross Jansen and his wife, Lady Rhyl, complained to the authority about the March 18 programme, which featured a dispute between two neighbours, including them, and a third neighbour who refused to stop flying several flags on his Orewa property.

The dispute centred on the noise made by flapping flags. The programme was made after the flag-flying neighbour ignored a court ruling ordering him to stop flying the flags.

The Jansens claimed that the item invaded their privacy, by naming them and showing archive pictures of Sir Ross without his permission.

TVNZ argued that the issues discussed were already a matter of record as they had been aired in a court case.

The authority found that the item did not breach the couple's privacy as the information was already in the public domain, and that the archive photo used was taken with the permission of Sir Ross.

A related complaint by Lady Rhyl that only her husband was asked for comment and she was not separately asked for comment was not considered as she had not first complained to TVNZ.

- NZPA