TV3's 'gross abuse' of Thompson sparks wave of outrage

A formal complaint was said to have been laid with TV3 over its confrontational interview with  EMA boss Alasdair Thompson, Without a Word of a Lie understands.

The interview, done by Campbell Live reporter Mihingarangi Forbes, screened on Thursday night after Mr Thompson's comment about women's menstrual cycles created an uproar. 

Campbell Live's interview was heavily criticised by media commentator Dr Brian Edwards, who suggested Mr Thompson should lay a complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

Dr Edwards' comment received strong support from NBR readers, who spoke out about the editing used to whittle a 27-minute interview down to four minutes for the piece shown on Campbell Live.

One reader called 'liberty' wrote yesterday afternoon, "I have made a formal complaint to TV3 over this edited interview under Sections 5 and 6 of the Broadcasting Standards of Practice on the grounds of fairness and accuracy. 

"I suggest others who believe this was a gross abuse of media editing power do the same by going to the TV3 webpage and scolling down to the bottom where there is a button for complaints. Is time people stood up to this sort of gutter journalism."

Campbell Live producer Pip Keane also came under fire from NBR readers after posting a response defending TV3 against Dr Edwards' criticism.

Ms Keane said Campbell Live had been honest with viewers. 

"On a day that meant so much not just for Christchurch but for the rest of the country too, we’re hardly going to run a 27 minute interview with Alasdair Thompson. In fact, if we had you would probably have written a column about it! We had to choose the best part to put to air. That’s our job."

She said, "We don’t put the whole interview to air. We put the best bits to air. I had four spare minutes yesterday and now the whole interview is on the internet for people to watch, judge and draw their own conclusion." 

An NBR reader described Ms Keane's comment as "a discraceful attempt at self justification."

Paul Marsden wrote, "No journalism here. An appalling attempt by TV3 to jack the ratings and make money from the proceeds of the poll. I voted based on what TV3 broadcast. It was completely unbalanced. I demand my 99c back."

In a later comment Mr Marsden suggested TV3 could have been in breach of the Fair Trading Act with its poll.

Another reader said Mr Thompson "should have known better" than to give a full and frank interview with the media.

"He has put himself in an exposed position. Once you have seen the full interview you will see the that the media cannot be trusted. I cannot believe the blog from TV3 justifying their position."

Mediaworks spin doctor Rachel Lorimer said she "wasn't aware of any complaints as yet" but said she had left a message with the company's legal team and would let NBR know if she heard anything further.

"Sometimes they [complaints] come directly to us and sometimes they come to us from the BSA."

She said viewers had 20 working days from the date the interview aired to file their complaints.