Kirk, 31, a supporter of Trump and conservative political activist, was killed while speaking at an outdoor event at the University of Utah on September 10 last year. Tyler Robson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority said in a news release today it has upheld three complaints about a story broadcast on 1 News on September 13 last year.
In the story, the BSA said Trump was misrepresented in saying "I couldn't care less" in response to a question.
The BSA said the 1 News report stated: "(W)hen the president was asked what he'd do to unite the country after this tragedy, he said, 'I couldn't care less', blaming the radical left and vowing to go after political violence.
"This was accompanied by a large banner with a photo of Trump and the words 'I couldn't care less'."
The BSA said Trump's actual response was: "Well, I'll tell you something that's gonna get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less."
The full statement made by Trump was played later in the 1 News story but the BSA said this did not resolve the inaccuracy.
Other complaints were made - including on the issue of fairness and balance - but this was not upheld.
The authority said the report was newsworthy and of public interest - but found there was potential harm in the inaccurate reporting which outweighed the state broadcaster's right to freedom of expression.
"The broadcast carried the potential to seriously mislead the public about what the president said. In the current divided social and political climate, further care is required in reporting on comments of this nature.
"Audiences expect news media to report carefully and accurately on statements made by political figures, particularly where that forms the basis for scrutiny or criticism of them.
"We do not consider the broadcaster made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of its statement and its treatment of Trump's response in the item's introduction, noting the broadcast was pre-recorded and the statement's accuracy was clearly capable of being determined by the broadcaster, given they had the clip of Trump's full comments."
The BSA said TVNZ had argued there had been similar reporting of the comments by other media outlets.
It had since accepted the BSA's decision and said it would be used as an opportunity to review its scripting processes, the authority said.
The BSA has ordered TVNZ to broadcast a statement on 1 News about its decision.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |
