John Bryant against Radio New Zealand

Radio New Zealand published a story on November 13, 2024, headlined Justin Welby resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury over abuse scandal.  The story reported the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby saying he had failed to ensure a proper investigation into allegations of abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps decades ago.

The story described him as the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide.

John Bryant complained that was factually incorrect and defamed over 60 percent of global Anglicans including himself.

He said Welby was not the spiritual leader of Global South Anglicans.  “He is an apostate heretic who is a spiritual leader in the woke Western residual Anglican Church.”

RNZ said the article focused on Welby’s resignation after a report singled him out for criticism over his handling of abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s. As for the statement that he was spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans nationwide, RNZ said that even if this was not entirely accurate it would not have affected the reader’s overall understanding of the article.

RNZ added that the New Zealand Anglican bishops referred to the former Archbishop of Canterbury as: “…giving up his leadership of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion.”

The Media Council noted the complaint was based on Mr Bryant’s bare assertions. There was no back-up factual material provided.  The Council saw no evidence that the article was factually wrong, and this was fatal to the claim of inaccuracy and unfairness.

Decision: There were no grounds to proceed.