The panellists, Deborah Hart and Simon Wilson, gave their views on whether Aotearoa New Zealand should sanction Israel. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The Broadcasting Standards Authority has not upheld two complaints about a broadcast of The Panel which briefly discussed public perception of the recognition of a Palestinian state.
The panellists, Deborah Hart and Simon Wilson, gave their views on whether Aotearoa New Zealand should sanction Israel.
The complaints were made under several standards and included claims the broadcast was unbalanced for not including comment from Palestinians 'or directly affected individuals', and treated Palestinians unfairly.
Additionally, one of Hart's comments was said to be inaccurate and misleading, and to discriminate against and denigrate Palestinians.
Under the Balance standard, the Authority found alternative perspectives were provided by the other panellist, Wilson. In addition, it said the broadcast was clearly signalled as approaching the topics canvassed from the panellists' perspectives; was narrowly focussed on certain aspects of the much larger, complex Israel-Palestine conflict; and listeners were likely to be aware of significant viewpoints given the issues had been frequently covered in a range of media.
The Authority also found Hart's statement was comment or opinion to which the Accuracy standard did not apply, and it did not reach the high threshold required to breach the Discrimination and Denigration standard.
Among its conclusions, the judgment said: 'The Authority's task is to weigh the right to freedom of expression, enshrined in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, against the level of actual or potential harm that might be caused by the broadcast. The free and frank expression of opinions is a hallmark of the right to freedom of expression.
'It is of critical importance regarding news and current affairs broadcasts and requires a high level of harm for the Authority to be demonstrably justified in limiting it. As outlined above, we have not identified any harm at a level justifying our intervention.'
The full decision can be read here - Wyeth & CK and Radio New Zealand Ltd - 2025-059 (3 December 2025)
