Spectacular blowback after BSA’s power grab
- leightonassociates
- Oct 19
- 2 min read
Grab the popcorn, readers. The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) raised a beef with journalist Sean Plunket, founding editor of The Platform.
New Zealand media is dominated by left-leaning outlets, but The Platform, along with NewstalkZB and NBR, leans right.
The BSA was formed in 1989 and is a disciplinary body granted powers under the Broadcasting Act 1989. There was no Internet to speak of in those days.
A lot of broadcast media has migrated to online delivery, so if the BSA is asserting that the Broadcasting Act is outdated and no longer fit for purpose, there is probably merit in that. But we’re not aware of any lobbying to change the law to cover podcasters. For now, The Platform does not pay a broadcasting licence fee. Similarly, Leighton Associates is not regulated by the Media Council although we did inquire into voluntary regulation a couple of years ago. Any media, regulated or not, is still subject to the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, Privacy Act 2020 and Defamation Act 1992, as examples.
A person who was offended by a July 2025 podcast made a complaint to the BSA, perhaps unaware that the BSA does not have jurisdiction over The Platform (and this is not a comment on the merits of his complaint).
The BSA, who Plunket describes as “woke”, picked it up and ran with it anyway. Its letter claiming to have jurisdiction over Plunket was stamped “DRAFT” and “NOT FOR PUBLICATION”. At least two of the BSA’s disciplinary committee members are lawyers and should have known better than to write “not for publication” on a pre-action letter which seems to imply that a secret interlocutory hearing on jurisdiction was held. The ridicule that followed made the pre-action letter little more than a “paper tiger”.
One of our UK contacts rode out a similar legal threat by publishing a letter on LinkedIn, and the solicitor concerned was brought before the Solicitor’s Disciplinary Authority.
Defo threat backfires, UK solicitor cops huge fine 7 January 2025
The BSA’s actions are ultra vires, a naked power grab, and a great example of the Streisand Effect. But Plunket has generously offered the BSA a way out – it can walk away.
The reaction from New Zealand audiences, at least at this early stage, appears to be a victory for free speech; culturally we’re unlikely to be dogged with anything similar to the UK’s much maligned NCHI (non-crime hate incident) investigations.
Tristam Price
Editor
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