BRUCE OWEN AGAINST THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES

The Sunday Star-Times published a three-panel cartoon on 21 April 2024. The first panel showed an angry looking Government Minister Judith Collins holding a Cabinet Manual with an erect penis drawn on its cover, the second panel showed an angry Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the third panel depicted Act Leader David Seymour and New Zealand First deputy Shane Jones as naughty schoolboys declaring “You’re not the boss of us.” The cartoon was a reference to Mr Luxon’s inability to exercise discipline over ministers drawn from coalition partners.

Bruce Owen complained the cartoon’s use of a phallic symbol breached standards of decency in a publication which was available to school-aged people. 

The NZ Media Council notes the cartoon is in the long-standing tradition of mocking politicians, but with the addition of a minor obscenity.  It says clearly the graffiti on the front of the Cabinet Manual is juvenile but that juvenile obscenity is a key element of the cartoon.

Mr Owen is entitled to be concerned that the cartoon exceeded normal boundaries for publications that were viewed by young people.

However, the choice of cartoons is a matter of editorial discretion. As it is not possible to accurately define any “normal boundaries” it comes down to a question of taste and decency and an editor’s judgement as to what readers might appreciate or object to. The Media Council does not rule on matters of taste and decency as they are matters of editorial discretion which fall outside of the Council’s jurisdiction. There is nothing to support a claim that there was any breach of Media Council principles.  There is no right to not be offended by cartoons.

Decision: There were no grounds to proceed.