Investigation Report No. 2796
File No. / ACMA2012/555Licensee / Channel Seven Brisbane Pty Limited
Station / BTQ Brisbane
Type of Service / Commercial television
Name of Program / Sunday Night
Date of Broadcast / 13/11/11
Relevant Code / Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010
Clauses 4.3.9, 4.3.4 and 7.9.
Date Finalised / 8 June 2012
Decision / No breach of clause 4.3.9 [reports of suicide]
No breach of clause 4.3.4 [distress to viewers/provide warnings]
No breach of clause 7.9 [telephone advice]
The complaint
The complaint is that a segment of Sunday Night broadcast on 13 November 2011 contained distressing material about a teenage suicide.
The complainant also alleges that she did not receive information about how to make a code complaint when she rang to complain on 8 December 2011.
The complaint has been investigated against clauses 4.3.9, 4.3.4 and 7.9 of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010.
Matters not pursued
The complainant also alleged that she was treated discourteously in a telephone conversation with a member of the licensee’s staff on 16 January 2012. Courtesy in telephone conversations with complainants is not a requirement under the code.
The program
Sunday Night is a current affairs program broadcast weekly at 6:30pm.
The segment complained of, which was 5 minutes in duration, was about a teenage victim of bullying (A) who has become an anti-bullying campaigner. In the segment he revealed what was described as a ‘hidden family tragedy’ which had influenced his decision to stand up to bullying, namely the suicide of his cousin, B, who had also been a victim of bullying.
There was no prior warning of the suicide-related material.
Assessment
This investigation is based on submissions from the complainant and the licensee and a copy of the broadcast provided to the ACMA by the licensee. Other sources used have been identified where relevant.
Issue 1: Reports of suicide
Relevant code clause
News and Current Affairs Programs
4.3 In broadcasting news and current affairs programs, licensees:
4.3.9 should broadcast reports of suicide or attempted suicide only where there is an identifiable public interest reason to do so, and should exclude any detailed description of the method used. The report must be straightforward and must not include graphic details or images, or glamorise suicide in any way.
Complainant’s submissions
The complainant submitted that:
· the broadcast had a ‘terrible effect’ on a young relative of hers
· the licensee had not taken into account that some victims of bullying might not have thought of suicide before they saw the program and
· a report she saw elsewhere, which she thought was much better, mentioned Lifeline at the end.
Licensee’s submissions
The licensee submitted:
The report provided a powerful insight into [A]’s previously undisclosed determination to speak out against bullying due to the suicide of his cousin, [B]. The report concerns matters of legitimate public interest, discussing child safety and bully-related suicide. Thissubject matter has been, and continues to be, a matter of concern to the community, particularly now that bullying can occur more publicly over the internet.
With regard to the references to suicide included in the report, the code does not prohibit any reference whatsoever to how a suicide occurred. Rather it requires that such reports exclude detailed descriptions of the method used. In the context of the overall report, Seven considers the references to [B]’s suicide were brief, plainly stated and not detailed in any way. Moreover, the primary aim of broadcasting the report was to assist [A] to fulfil his objectives in providing a meaningful contribution to those who may have experienced bullying or who are responsible for bullying themselves.
Seven considers that its report was consistent with the aims of the code, as it simply stated what happened to [A]’s cousin in a straightforward way. In this regard, the report allowed for a sensible and mature presentation of this subject and did not glamorise it in any way.
For these reasons, Seven submits that its report complies with clause 4.3.9 of the code.
Finding
The licensee did not breach clause 4.3.9 of the code.
Reasons
Clause 4.3.9 of the code sets out five requirements for suicide-related reports in news and current affairs programs:
· reports of suicide or attempted suicide may only be broadcast where there is an identifiable public interest reason for doing so;
· the report should exclude any detailed description of the method used;
· the report must be straightforward;
· the report must not include graphic details or images; and
· reports must not glamorise suicide in any way.
Identifiable public interest reason
The code does not define the circumstances that might give rise to an ‘identifiable public interest reason’ for broadcasting a report about a suicide. The ACMA’s Privacy Guidelines for Broadcasters (December 2011) in the context of invasion of privacy state that:
Whether something is in the public interest will depend on all the circumstances, including whether a matter is capable of affecting the community at large so that citizens might be legitimately interested in or concerned about what is going on.[1]
Public interest issues include public health and security; criminal activities; corruption; misleading the public; serious anti-social behaviour; politics; government and public administration; elections; and the conduct of corporations, businesses, trade unions and religious organisations.
Not all matters that interest the public are in the public interest.
Any material that invades a person’s privacy in the public interest must directly or indirectly contribute to the public’s capacity to assess an issue of importance to the public, and its knowledge and understanding of the overall subject.[2] It should be proportionate and relevant to those issues, and not disclose peripheral facts or be excessively prolonged, detailed or salacious.[3]
The ACMA considers that:
· school bullying is a matter of concern in the community at large;
· school bullying is a form of serious anti-social behaviour; and
· the report of B’s suicide contributed to the public’s knowledge and understanding of that subject.
Accordingly, the ACMA is of the view that there was an identifiable public interest reason for broadcasting the report of B’s suicide in this case.
Reports to exclude any detailed description of method
The report included the information that B had hanged himself and that a chair was involved. It therefore contained a description of the method used in B’s suicide. However, the ACMA does not consider that the degree of detail was such as to constitute a ‘detailed’ description for purposes of clause 4.3.9.
Reports to be straightforward
In relation to whether the report was ‘straightforward’, the ACMA considers that reports of this nature may be expected to be relatively short in duration, uncomplicated in their format, confined to the basic facts of the matter, and presented in a manner that does not dramatise the event. Such reports do not employ other production devices to give the report ‘entertainment’ characteristics.
The report of B’s suicide was relatively brief (occupying about one-third of a five-minute segment), and was in secondary place to the main topic of A’s development and motivation as an anti-bullying campaigner. It did not dramatise the event, or have a complicated format with ‘entertainment’ characteristics. The ACMA is of the view that, in this sense, it was straightforward.
Reports not to include graphic details or images
The broadcast did not contain any graphic details or images of B’s suicide.
Reports not to glamorise suicide
The issues raised in the report were treated in a serious manner, with an apparent view to alerting people to the potential consequences of school bullying. B’s suicide was presented as a tragic loss of young life, for example in his father’s comments that ‘he hasn’t grown up to know what life is all about. He was just beginning, you know’. The emotional impact of the suicide on B’s family was also presented, with the father in particular shown as visibly distressed by it. The ACMA therefore considers that the report did not glamorise suicide in any way.
Observation
While the report met clause 4.3.9, the ACMA encourages all broadcasters to provide relevant help line numbers as part of reports of suicide, to ensure that vulnerable viewers are made aware of help available to them.[4] The broadcast complained of did not provide such numbers. In the ACMA’s view, it therefore fell short of best practice in this area.
Issue 2: Distress to viewers/provide warning
Relevant code clause
News and Current Affairs Programs
4.3 In broadcasting news and current affairs programs, licensees:
4.3.4 must provide the warnings required by clauses 2.14 and 2.20 of this code[5] when there is an identifiable public interest reason for selecting and broadcasting visual and/or aural material which may seriously distress or seriously offend a substantial number of viewers.
Complainant’s submissions
The complainant submitted that from the promotions she and her young relative had thought the ‘content would be a positive result in someone who had been bullied saying how they handled it, I had no idea the content was about suicide’.
The complainant later submitted that the issue of suicide had been ‘sprung on us’ unexpectedly in the broadcast.
Licensee’s submissions
In relation to distress to viewers, the licensee relevantly submitted:
Seven took care to present the matters in the report in a way that focused on [A]’s maturity and leadership to try to turn this tragic event into a motivation to help others who may be experiencing similar issues to remain strong.
Having regard to the predominantly adult audience of the program, the overall positive tone of the report, and the report’s primary focus (which was the way [A] dealt with the loss of his cousin, rather than his cousin’s suicide itself) ... Seven considers the report would be considered by the majority of viewers to be insightful and inspirational, rather than alarming or distressing in any way. This view is supported by the positive responses by the public which were received at the time of the report’s broadcast.
For these reasons, Seven submits that a consumer warning was not required prior to the broadcast of the report.
At the ACMA’s request, the licensee provided demographic data for the audiences of three editions of the program broadcast in November 2011. These showed the following percentages of viewers in the age group 0-17:
6 November 2011 7.4%
13 November 2011 8.8%
20 November 2011 8.6%
Finding
The licensee did not breach clause 4.3.4 of the code.
Reasons
‘Identifiable public interest reason’
It has been established under Issue 1 that there was an identifiable public interest reason for the material to be broadcast.
‘Visual and/or aural material’
From the complaint, it is taken that the relevant material was aural, specifically the words of A,the reporter and B’s father about the suicide of B.
Effect
Clause 4.3.4 refers to the relevant effect as ‘distress or offend’. Given the complainant’s concern, the relevant effect is taken to be distress, rather than offence, in this case.
Degree and extent
The ACMA acknowledges that the complainant’s young relative was seriously distressed by the broadcast. However, under clause 4.3.4, a warning is only necessary where material is likely, in the licensee’s reasonable opinion, to have that effect on a substantial number of viewers.
From the licensee’s submission, it is taken that the licensee judged the material unlikely to have seriously distressed a substantial number of viewers because:
· the report focused on A rather than B ie on positive matters; and
· the audience of the program is predominantly adult.
With regard to the licensee’s submission that the audience of the program is ‘predominantly adult’, the ACMA notes that ‘substantial’ is not defined in the code, and does not necessarily mean a majority. A ‘substantial’ number of viewers might still be a minority, as long as this was a considerable number. The demographic data show that the percentage of the actual audience of the program in the age group 0-17 on 13November 2011 was higher than that for the week before and the week following, though only slightly so.
In any case, it is noted that clause 4.3.4 refers to
selecting and broadcasting visual and/or aural material which may seriously distress or seriously offend a substantial number of viewers. [Emphasis added]
From this, the clause requires licensees to make an assessment during the process of selection of material before broadcast on whether material proposed for broadcast may seriously distress a substantial number of viewers.[6] While general demographic data for the program can be taken into account, it also requires licensees to seriously consider the particular topic to be addressed in the particular segment, and the way the particular segment has been promoted. The program was broadcast in the early evening, and the segment topic was school bullying. It was, in the ACMA’s view, reasonably foreseeable that this particular broadcast might attract more adolescents and teenagers than usual as viewers; and that some of these viewers – namely those with recent, direct association with school bullying and/or youth suicide – might be unusually susceptible to serious distress from the material.
On the other hand, the material selected for broadcast did not contain any graphic details, was brief, and was framed by the positive story of A, who has survived bullying and become an anti-bullying campaigner.
On balance, therefore, the ACMA concludes that the words about B’s suicide did not constitute aural material which may have seriously distressed a substantial number of viewers. As such, the licensee was not required to provide the warnings required by clauses2.14 and 2.20 of the code.
Issue 3: Telephone advice
Relevant code clause
Oral Complaints and Advising callers of the Code Complaint Procedure
7.9 When a viewer complains by telephone about material covered by the code, and wishes to pursue the complaint further, the licensee will advise him or her that a written complaint may be made within 30 days of the particular broadcast, and that the licensee is obliged to respond in writing to that complaint.
Complainant’s submissions