The Broadcasting Standards Authority has found that Michael Laws;
…unfairly represented Mr Broughton’s views.
Mr Broughton had said that “Pakeha continue to allow [smoking] in the country and make profits from it’, but Laws told his listeners that Mr Broughton believed, and told his clients, that smoking is a “Pakeha plot to kill Maori’, an assertion he made several times during the course of his programme.
“The authority is firm in its view that such blatant misrepresentation cannot be regarded as `fair comment’, as argued by the broadcaster,” the decision said.
The authority considered whether upholding the complaint would infringe on the broadcaster’s freedom of expression, but decided its decision would remind broadcasters to ensure they dealt with people referred to in a programme fairly.
With my submission to the Maori Affairs Select Committee on Maori smoking highlights the culture of the Maori anti-smoking lobby. I hope to present a full submission to the Select Committee in person and table my evidence of Shane Kawaneta Bradbrook’s epic failure along with other Maori anti-smoking campaigners.
Mr Broughton is on my list of people who are part of a nasty spiteful list of anti-smoking adherents discovered via the OIA.
