66 S e cti o n One – General Racially offensive public statements and behaviour newspapers in a range of languages. Initiatives aimed at Section 61 of the HRA prohibits expression that is promoting diversity in the media, including the Excellence threatening, abusive, or insulting, and considered likely in Reporting Diversity awards and the Fairfax cadet to excite hostility against or bring into contempt a person scheme, have played a role in increasing the number or group of persons on the ground of their colour, race or of journalists from diverse backgrounds in mainstream ethnic or national origins. It is the effect of what is said media. The numbers of Mäori, Pacific and Asian journalists that counts, not whether the person did or did not intend in the mainstream media, however, still remain to excite hostility. disproportionately low. Although the Commission receives regular complaints Details of race-related complaints made to the NZPC, ASA about racially offensive or divisive public statements, and Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) over the past many of these fall outside its complaints jurisdiction five years are included in the Human Rights Commission’s because they do not meet the legal threshold of annual Race Relations Report. The NZPC received the section 61 of the HRA, when weighed against the lowest number of race-related cases (seven) in the period BoRA protection of the right to freedom of speech. If 2005–09. The BSA received 19 complaints, seven of these such statements are published or broadcast, however, in 2009. The ASA received the most complaints (45), but alternative complaints procedures under the codes the ratio of race-related complaints to the total number administered by the Broadcasting Standards Authority can of complaints was very low. For example, in 2009 the be used, or complaints can be lodged with the self-regu- ASA released decisions on 647 complaints of which only latory New Zealand Press Council (NZPC) and Advertising 10 were race-related. Overall, the level of race-related Standards Authority (ASA). complaints about the media to standards bodies remains The Commission considers that there is a legitimate public very low. issue about the efficacy of section 61, if racial disharmony complaints seldom reach the threshold at which it may Table 2: Number of race-related intervene. The Commission believes it is time for a review complaints to media complaints bodies of section 61, to see if it is fulfilling its purpose and to 2005-9 consider whether legislative amendments are required. Year NZPC BSA ASA 2009 2 7 10 2008 0 2 10 2007 4 5 12 2006 1 2 5 2005 0 3 8 The reasons for this are more fully explored in the chapter on the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The media The media, in exercising their right to freedom of expression, have a responsibility not to denigrate ethnic groups and to report in an accurate, fair and balanced way. Freedom of expression also implies a positive role for the media to promote racial harmony through the airing of plural voices, the promotion of tolerance and the provision of information that aids public understanding. Safety There are pockets of the media, especially on talkback Safety and security of the person is a fundamental human radio, that continue to inflame race relations from time to right. The general picture of discrimination above also time. includes more serious incidents of racially motivated Since 2004, New Zealand media have become more crime. Ensuring the safety of all in New Zealand from diverse. There are now, for example, two Mäori television channels, an iwi radio network, World TV in Chinese and Korean, Triangle TV, Radio Tarana, Skykiwi.com, Pacific Media Network, access radio programmes and community racially motivated crime is a central part of achieving harmonious race relations. This section focusses on the collection of data on hate crime; regional strategies to identify, report and deal with racially motivated