The chair of Radio New Zealand's board says "no stone is going to be left unturned" as he announces the panel which will investigate the editing of news stories.
The state broadcaster has launched a review after it emerged last week that text of a Reuters story about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, published on RNZ, had been altered to include a pro-Russian sentiment.
RNZ has now found more than a dozen stories taken from wire services relating to the war in Ukraine which have been edited on its website.
Other stories of concern have arisen too, including edits that appear to be sympathetic towards Palestine and the militant group Hamas, and China's abuses in Xinjiang and its treatment of Uighurs. Evidence has also emerged of edits to transgender and gender identity stories.
Chair of Radio New Zealand Board of Governors Jim Mather told RNZ's Morning Report the board met on Tuesday night and reached a decision on who would make up the review panel.
The panel is made up of three people and includes media law expert Will Ekel, who will chair the panel, public law expert and former journalist Linda Clark and former director of editorial standards at ABC Alan Sunderland.
"We have tasked them to conduct a robust and comprehensive review of RNZ's editorial process. This is in the interest of achieving and protecting the highest standards of journalism of RNZ," said Mather.
Mather told Morning Report "no stone is going to be left unturned"
"The terms of reference are specific about reviewing the circumstances around the inappropriate editing of wire stories discovered in June 2023, identifying what went wrong, and recommending areas for improvement."
Terms of reference
- To review the circumstances around the inappropriate editing of wire stories discovered in June 2023, identify what went wrong, and recommend areas for improvement. This includes reviewing the handling of the complaint to the broadcasting minister from the Ukrainian community in October 2022.
- To review the editorial controls, systems, and processes for the editing of online content at RNZ, assess their effectiveness, and recommend improvements.
- To review RNZ editorial policy and practice and recommend improvements based on any relevant findings.
- To advise the board on options for ensuring RNZ has processes in place to safeguard against misinformation or partiality in its new and current affairs content.
- To advise the board on any other related matters that warrant further consideration.
Mather told Morning Report it was important the terms of reference were widened to ensure any further issues were identified.
"The ToR (terms of reference) will allow for rigorous scrutiny of RNZ's editorial processes and examine factors and warning signs which led to international wire stories being subedited with inappropriate content, and then published."
Mather said he is making "no predeterminations whatsoever" on what the review may find and will eagerly await for the findings to be presented to the board.
The investigation is expected to take about four weeks to complete.
Media Commentator Andrew Holden told AM it is "critical" RNZ has a comprehensive review of the editing of new stories.
"The critical thing is that we get a full understanding of what's been going on."
But Holden doesn't believe the scandal will affect public trust in the media.
"People are smart enough to understand that this is one person, that it can occur and new organisations rely on people acting in good faith," Holden said.
"In broad terms, people understand what journalists do and this is a pretty extreme case and a pretty unusual one."
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