NZ Media Council upholds complaint about headline

Dame Kerry Prendergast complained to the NZ Media Council about three stories published in The Dominion Post and on Stuff, which she said impacted her reputation and had been hurtful.

The three articles, published on July 2, August 8 and August 25, looked at the review into a conflict of interest for the CEO of the NZ Film Commission.

At the time, Dame Kerry was the chair of the Film Commission board.

Dame Kerry claimed it was misleading to report she was not reappointed for a third term as chair of the Film Commission chair because of calls for her resignation during this time.

She said this took two unrelated events which were then reported as fact. She said it would be unusual for a chair to be appointed for a third term and so close to an election.

In addition, she alleged The Dominion Post showed imbalance by not publishing a media statement by Minister Carmel Sepuloni on July 6, expressing her gratitude for Dame Kerry’s service. Dame Kerry also complained there was only one call for her resignation yet the headline in the first story used the word ‘‘calls’’ and this was repeated within the other two articles.

The Dominion Post stood by their report that Dame Kerry was not reappointed as chair for a further term after calls were made for her to resign saying this was factually correct and the wording simply laid out the timeline of events. They refuted it was unusual for a chair to be reappointed for a third time, citing the previous two chairs as examples.

The Dominion Post said the first of the stories quoted Minister Sepuloni saying she was grateful for Dame Kerry’s ongoing service but they did not publish the minister’s statement issued a few days later as there was no story about the Film Commission being written at the time.

As to how many calls were made for Dame Kerry’s resignation over the conflict of interest issue, The Dominion Post said there were ‘‘two and a half calls’’.

One was from MP Damien Smith as reported. A second came from John Barnett, who was quoted in the first article, who said in a follow-up interview that he thought Dame Kerry should resign.

The ‘‘half’’ call refers to a statement by Irene Gardiner from the Screen Production and Development Association (SPADA) saying they had serious concerns about the governance of the commission.

The Media Council appreciates Dame Kerry’s interpretation of the phrase ‘‘Minister Carmel Sepuloni decided not to renew Kerry Prendergast for a further term, after calls were made for her to resign’’ but disagrees it suggests cause and effect.

The Council accepts The Dominion Post’s position that this was fact and believes there was fair and balanced representation of Dame Kerry and her work as chair throughout the articles.

However, the Council agrees using ‘‘calls’’ for Dame Kerry’s resignation in the headline was inaccurate.

Only one call is reported in the story and there is a substantial difference between one call and many.

The Media Council upheld the complaint under Principle (6) Headlines and captions.

The full Media Council ruling can be found on its website mediacouncil.org.nz.