LANA MILLER AGAINST TVNZ
Case Number: 3121
Council Meeting: OCTOBER 2021
Decision: No Grounds to Proceed
Ruling Categories: Misleading
Overview
CASE NO: 3121
RULING BY THE NEW ZEALAND MEDIA COUNCIL ON THE COMPLAINT OF LANA MILLER AGAINST TVNZ, NZ HERALD AND STUFF
FINDING: NO GROUNDS TO PROCEED
DATE: OCTOBER 2021
A story was published on the TVNZ website on September 27, 2021 under the headline Majority of Kiwis support making vaccine compulsory. This reported a 1News Colmar Brunton poll which found 61 percent supported mandatory vaccinations. Since the story originated with 1News poll and no links were provided to the other platforms mentioned, the Media Council considers this as a complaint against TVNZ.
The complainant said the story was fearmongering. The poll was conducted with only 1001 selected persons and it was therefore misleading to say a vaccine mandate was supported by a majority.
This was a straightforward report of a poll which was conducted to gauge public opinion. It was not misleading to say a poll majority represented a majority in popular opinion. The headline accurately reported a key poll result. This type of summary is commonly used and well understood by the public. The methodology used in conducting the poll was provided at the foot of the article.
There were insufficient grounds to proceed.