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Television New Zealand Charter - Submission to Commerce Select Committee [2008] NZHRCSub 1 (20 March 2008)

Last Updated: 28 April 2015

Clerk of the Committee
Commerce Committee
Select Committee Office
Parliament Buildings
WELLINGTON

20 March 2008

Attn: Fenella Bovett

REVIEW OF THE TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND CHARTER

The Human Rights Commission (the Commission) welcomes this opportunity to comment on the review of the TVNZ Charter (the Charter). The Commission is an independent Crown Entity which operates under the Human Rights Act 1993. As well as promoting and protecting human rights, the Commission is charged by statute with encouraging the development and maintenance of harmonious relationships between the diverse groups that make up New Zealand society.

The Commission has a strong interest in promoting, protecting and strengthening freedom of expression as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and affirmed in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The media plays an important role in the protection of this right, and has wide influence in terms of encouraging harmonious relationships and understanding between diverse groups in New Zealand.

The Commission commends the work of the Working Party, consisting of representatives from Corporate Affairs at TVNZ, the broadcasting policy section of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Unitec School of Communication. The Working Party reviewed and analysed public submissions on the original redraft of the Charter prepared by TVNZ, and subsequently revised the Charter to capture this public comment. The Commission would like to express its general support for the Working Party’s recommendations in their Revised TVNZ Charter. The report of the Working Party gives substantial weight and consideration to public submissions on the review and, on the whole, has significantly incorporated this feedback into its redrafted version of the Charter.

There are, however, a few points to which the Commission would like to draw further attention. These include general comments as well as specific suggestions on points in the Charter, as follows.

1 An Informed Society

The Commission understands this section of the Charter to cover three main issues:

1) Ensuring that New Zealand society is informed and educated by balanced, comprehensive and quality television broadcasting. The points in this section give due weight to these requirements.


2) The role of the media in encouraging harmonious relations in New Zealand.

The Commission agrees with the Working Party’s recommendation that point 1(f),^[1] ‘Provide programmes that extend the range of ideas and experiences available to New Zealanders’, should be moved to section one, An Informed Society. Developing an informed society is a vital piece in achieving harmonious relations between diverse groups in New Zealand. This process necessarily involves extending the range of ideas and experiences available to New Zealanders. Point 1(f) is therefore more appropriately linked with the section on developing an informed society than with innovation in the media (section six).

3) Guaranteeing access to information for all New Zealanders.

Section one of the Charter also has implications in terms of access to information and education by everyone in New Zealand. Point 2(g) under National Identity and Citizenship should, therefore, be moved to section one, An Informed Society. ‘Enabling New Zealanders of all abilities to engage with the fullest range of programmes’ is indisputably essential to creating an informed society. We cannot claim that our society as a whole is informed and educated by our media if only a selection of groups in New Zealand is able to access this information.

2 National Identity and Citizenship

While section one concerns the provision of and access to information, the Commission understands section two of the Charter to be more specifically about the content of television programming. This involves the role of the media in providing a voice for and representation of the diverse cultures and peoples of New Zealand. The Commission, therefore, supports the emphasis in point 2(c) on many-sided debate, as a means to facilitate mutual understanding between diverse groups in New Zealand society. The Commission also supports the comments of the Working Party regarding points 2(d) and 2(f), that ‘minority perspectives should be included not only in programmes aimed at those minorities but also in programmes intended for general audiences’; and that the ‘public broadcaster’s obligation to help engender empathy and understanding among different groups in society’ should be provided for in this section of the Charter.^[2]

While the Commission supports the inclusion of point 2(g) for the reasons given by the Working Party in their report, this point is more about access to information, rather than content, and should be moved to section one, An Informed Society, as discussed above.

3 Maori

The Commission welcomes the Working Party’s suggested rewording of point 3(a). The Commission’s previous submission on this point stated that ‘while the concepts of participation and voice are still present, the redrafted statement diminishes the importance of ensuring that Maori participate in the planning of television programming’. The proposed redraft states that TVNZ will ‘provide programmes by, for and about Maori involving significant Maori participation and perspectives’. This statement goes much further towards ensuring the genuine participation of Maori at all levels of television programming, and does not imply token representation of Maori.

4 Diversity

The Commission supports the Working Party’s changes to point 4(d). A more positive and proactive approach to promoting understanding between the diverse groups in New Zealand society is vital, especially with regards to the influence and pervasiveness of the media. The Charter’s force and relevance within the present New Zealand context would be compromised by replacing this concept with simply reflecting the cultures of New Zealand (as proposed in TVNZ’s initial redraft of the Charter). In the context of New Zealand’s increasing cultural diversity, it is important that media play a role in promoting understanding between the diverse cultures of New Zealand.

Point 4(d) could also benefit from the addition of languages, as follows:
‘Provide programmes that promote understanding of New Zealand’s diversity of cultures, languages and regions’. This would draw out the strong connections that many New Zealanders have between their language and identity, not least of which are the Deaf community, and those who are involved in revitalising te reo Maori and Pacific languages, to name a few examples.

Conclusion

The Working Party has been very comprehensive in addressing the concerns raised in the public submission process which was held last year. The Commission commends this work, as it is clear that the principle of participation has been given due weight throughout this process. The Working Party’s Redrafted TVNZ Charter is an improvement on both the current Charter and the proposed redraft of the Charter by TVNZ. The Commission supports the Working Party’s redrafted Charter, on the whole, and encourages the Commerce Committee to consider the above points in its review of the TNVZ Charter.

The Commission would be happy to discuss these issues with you in more detail if desired. Should you need further information, please contact Vida Hollander, Policy Analyst, Race Relations, Strategic Policy Team at vidah@hrc.co.nz .

Yours sincerely,





Joris de Bres
Race Relations Commissioner
Kaihautū Whakawhanaunga a Iwi

^[1] References to points in the TVNZ Charter are based on the Working Party’s redrafted version.
^[2] Review of Public Submissions on the Redraft of the TVNZ Charter: Report of the Chair of the Working Party, September 2007, page 7.