PETER WAKEMAN AGAINST RNZ

RNZ published a Reuters story on 13 March 2024, headlined ‘Nowhere near enough’: US sending $300m of aid to Ukraine. The story was mostly about the US decision to provide military aid to Ukraine in the face of opposition from Republican Party hardliners.

It also reported the latest developments in the war and the Ukrainian President’s announcement that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since February 2022.

Peter Wakeman complained the RNZ story was biased and did not include the Russian point of view. He claims RNZ treats as fact all that the Ukraine President says. Mr Wakeman says what Ukraine says about the progress of the war and the number of casualties does not align with Russian statements on "the Russian military website and other experts". He alleges RNZ's narrative supports the goals of the NZ government's intelligence agencies i.e. remove Putin, weaken Russia, seize Russian assets and achieve the West’s interests. Mr Wakeman copied two RT (Russian Television) news stories and a transcript of the Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin to support his claim that RNZ was biased.

RNZ said Mr Wakeman’s views differed from those of officials reported in the story but this did not make the article in breach of any aspects of Media Council Principle (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance.

The article was principally a news report on a new tranche of funding to be released by the US Government to assist the Ukraine war effort. There was no requirement to include comments from Tucker Carlson or the Russian President in such a news item.

The Media Council notes this complaint is similar to Mr Wakeman’s other complaint relating to RNZ’s coverage of the Gaza war and the response is the same. This was just one of many stories published about the war in Ukraine over the past two years.

Reference to one story does not provide sufficient evidence to support a claim that RNZ has breached Media Council Principle (1) which requires publications to be accurate, fair and balanced. Although Mr Wakeman may disagree with comment made in the story on the situation in Ukraine, there is no evidence the reporting was inaccurate.

While Russian comment may not have been included in this article the Media Council has long held that in long-running stories balance can be provided over time.

There is insufficient evidence to support a claim that RNZ has failed in this respect on its coverage of the Russian war on Ukraine. Nor is there evidence that RNZ has a conflict of interest.

There are no grounds to proceed.