TVNZ is defending its work and Hattotuwa is defending his comments in the story.<\/p>\n
TVNZ\u2019s story focused on an anti-co-governance pamphlet distributed by Batchelor before the 2023 general election.<\/p>\n
Julian Batchelor speaks during a Stop Co-Governance meeting in Kerikeri in 2023.<\/p>\n
The story stated: \u201cThe pamphlets make a number of unfounded claims, including that a group of M\u0101ori elites are conspiring to take over the country and that co-governance is the \u2018installation of apartheid\u2019 in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hattotuwa, who at the time was a research director for The Disinformation Project, was quoted in the article, describing Batchelor\u2019s platforms and pamphlet as \u201cextremely worrying\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is what you would call dangerous speech. It incites hate, and it instigates harm offline.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is racist rhetoric. This is colonialism\u2019s long shadow.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was revealed in court that Batchelor\u2019s case is being funded by businessman Jim Grenon, a shareholder and director of NZ Herald owner NZME.<\/p>\n
According to Batchelor, who was reported in 2023 to be seeking $50,000 in damages and an apology on the 6pm news, Grenon approached him about taking on the case.<\/p>\n
NZME director and shareholder Jim Grenon. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
Batchelor told the court Grenon had phoned him after seeing the TVNZ stories and said, \u201cI\u2019ve been following you, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re a racist. I think we should sue TVNZ\u201d.<\/p>\n
Grenon, who holds just under 18.5% of NZME and led a charge to overhaul the media company\u2019s board earlier this year, is overseas and last night declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Peter Williams takes the stand<\/p>\n
In court on Tuesday, Williams, appearing as an expert witness on journalistic practice for Batchelor\u2019s claim, answered questions in relation to his brief of evidence, including an assertion that the story was a \u201chit piece\u201d without adequate balance.<\/p>\n
TVNZ\u2019s story referred to \u201cunfounded\u201d claims in the pamphlet. Williams said the word \u201cunfounded\u201d did not need to be part of the story, based on what he knew of the Government\u2019s 2019 He Puapua report.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying whether those claims [in the pamphlet] are true, or founded or unfounded,\u201d he said, but reiterating the adjective did not need to be there.<\/p>\n
TVNZ presenter Peter Williams on his last day on air at TVNZ in December 2018. Photo \/ TVNZ<\/p>\n
Williams was cross-examined at length by lawyer Daniel Nilsson, acting for TVNZ, who took him through the process of the article\u2019s production, why Hattotuwa was approached for balance, and the names of some of the TVNZ editors and producers who checked it.<\/p>\n
It got to the point where Nilsson suggested to the former TVNZ host: \u201cCan we put a line through the suggestion that this is a hit piece then, in your opinion?\u201d <\/p>\n
Williams: \u201cI don\u2019t think you should put a line through it. A hit piece is a colloquial term in the journalistic world. This was a pretty strong attack on things Mr Batchelor had written and said, and Mr Batchelor\u2019s response to it was, in my opinion, not adequately covered.\u201d<\/p>\n
He later agreed with Nilsson that his criticism of TVNZ having a specific intent to destroy Batchelor\u2019s credibility had fallen away. Williams accepted the reporter\u2019s position that there was no malice in her approaching Hattotuwa for comment. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy definition of a hit piece does not necessarily involve motivation, but it can sometimes just turn out like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams said he had cut and pasted the TVNZ online article into a file and found it was 600 words precisely, with Hattotuwa\u2019s words and position totalling more than 200 words.<\/p>\n
A paragraph summarising Batchelor\u2019s response was 10 words.<\/p>\n
The online article states: \u201cBatchelor denies he is racist, inciting hate or spreading misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under questioning from Batchelor\u2019s lawyer Matthew Hague, Williams said it was important that specific claims and allegations made by Hattotuwa were put to Batchelor.<\/p>\n
TVNZ is running a responsible communication defence; Hattotuwa is also running a truth and honest opinion defence.<\/p>\n
The court heard details yesterday of how the TVNZ reporter communicated with Batchelor \u2013 phone logs showed she called him just after noon, but that Batchelor has said he has no recollection of the call. <\/p>\n
The court also heard part of TVNZ\u2019s defence is that its reporter spoke to Batchelor on the phone, but she found his response was \u201clong and rambling\u201d and difficult to edit into a usable soundbite. The audio recording of the call no longer exists.<\/p>\n
Williams said it was to his detriment that Batchelor did not wish to appear on camera.<\/p>\n
However, Williams said there was technology and software to allow the editing of a phone-call response to succinct \u201cgrabs\u201d, and he felt more effort should have been made to articulate Batchelor\u2019s position. \u201cAs somebody who spent a long time editing audio and video over the years, it\u2019s not that difficult to edit rambling answers into something coherent.\u201d<\/p>\n
TVNZ believes it summarised Batchelor\u2019s position fairly. <\/p>\n
Williams also made clear that, in his view, time was not a factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have thought \u2013 from somebody who\u2019s been in the game for a year or three \u2013 if you\u2019re doing an interview at 12 o\u2019clock, you\u2019re actually feeling pretty relaxed about the status of your story and your material for editing for [a story] later in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were lighter moments during the hearing, too, as Williams and Nilsson sparred, including around the rise and impact of misinformation and disinformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now into areas that I did not believe this case would get into,\u201d said Williams.<\/p>\n
\u201cMisinformation, disinformation, truth, post-truth, before-truth. What is the truth in this day and age? As one gets older, Mr Nilsson, one gets very cynical about what is true and what is not true.\u201d<\/p>\n
To which Nilsson responded: \u201cWhen one practices as a litigation lawyer, one gets pretty cynical at a younger age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reality Check Radio link<\/p>\n
Earlier in the proceedings, Nilsson clarified with Williams the basis upon which he was appearing as a witness, confirming it was as an expert on journalistic best practice and the application of journalistic principles to the story.<\/p>\n
Williams left TVNZ in 2018, before joining MediaWorks as a talkback host for the \u201cbest part of three years\u201d. He retired in September 2021 and, \u201cfor a very brief interlude\u201d, worked for the alternative conservative platform Reality Check Radio.<\/p>\n
Peter Williams, Chantelle Baker, Paul Brennan and Rodney Hide featured large in Reality Check Radio’s early marketing – Williams’ face still appears on some billboards. Picture \/ Reality Check Radio<\/p>\n
Nilsson: \u201cYou\u2019re aware that your face still appears on the Reality Check Radio websites and billboards?\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams: \u201cYes, that is a matter of some discomfort for me… because they are using my image in ways that they perhaps shouldn\u2019t be at times. I\u2019ve been meaning to have a word to them about it. We\u2019ve never had any kind of contractual relationship in that respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there are plenty of signs around my home province… which I get somewhat, almost embarrassed by when I drive past. It\u2019s been one of those things that I should call them up and say, \u2018Please take them down\u2019, but I haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s that big a deal, but it is somewhat annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nilsson: \u201cWhy is it embarrassing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams: \u201cBecause they\u2019re using my face in a way that is not completely truthful and they\u2019re saying that I\u2019m part of their show and I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nilsson asked whether it was that causing him distress rather than being associated with the organisation more broadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not afraid to be associated with the organisation,\u201d said Williams. \u201cI still get rung up by them to appear on various panel shows because their working model has changed in recent times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nilsson observed that Reality Check Radio had recently joined a legal action with Sean Plunket\u2019s The Platform, pushing against an attempt for it to be covered by the Broadcasting Standards Authority, which covers standards such as balance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m associated with them [RCR] in a very casual way, I suppose. It\u2019s an ad hoc arrangement and no more than that,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
Nilsson: \u201cYou don\u2019t think that has an impact on the weight that should be given to your evidence here…?<\/p>\n
Williams: \u201cFairness and accuracy are principles which apply… across all media organisations.\u201d<\/p>\n
TVNZ journos, bosses watch on<\/p>\n
As well as O\u2019Donnell, news executive editor Phil O\u2019Sullivan, the TVNZ reporter responsible for the story, Te Aniwa Hurihanganui, Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and former Auckland bureau editor Sharon Fergusson were all in the public gallery at various stages of the hearing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell. Photos \/ TVNZ, RNZ<\/p>\n
Batchelor also sat at the back of the court, by himself and opposite TVNZ staff, occasionally taking notes.<\/p>\n
According to The Spinoff, Batchelor told the court on Monday that the TVNZ story had led to personal and professional harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn public, I can sense people recognising me on the street and it would be negative. One time when I went into a cafe a group went quiet and I heard one person say \u2018That\u2019s him, Julian Batchelor, the racist\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Batchelor said he was not a racist. According to The Spinoff, he repeatedly stated that he believed M\u0101ori had fundamental character flaws. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the lack of character inside M\u0101ori that I believe is the issue,\u201d he said. \u201cIf M\u0101ori don\u2019t address the issue of character, then the culture and the language might as well die a natural death.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believed M\u0101ori were not indigenous to New Zealand and that a race of fair-skinned, ginger-haired people had settled earlier.<\/p>\n
About 350,000 Stop Co-Governance pamphlets were delivered around New Zealand in 2023.<\/p>\n
Batchelor was asked on Monday who had funded his pamphlet but refused to answer, citing confidentiality.<\/p>\n
He was given the opportunity overnight on Monday to seek permission from the funders to reveal their names, but when he returned to the stand yesterday he continued to cite confidentiality.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not disclosing their names,\u201d Batchelor told the court.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for TVNZ and Hattotuwa say the issue of who funded the pamphlet is crucial and contended that Batchelor was in contempt of court.<\/p>\n
Davey Salmon, KC, representing Hattotuwa, said: \u201cNo witness should ever become the judge of the court\u2019s process, or seek to just refuse to comply.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it was not entirely clear that Batchelor had even sought consent overnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a very real problem in the administration of justice here. I appreciate Your Honour\u2019s concern to have the trial completed in a stable way, but this party has destabilised it. He has chosen to thumb his nose at the court process and refused to answer questions directly and on a claim he has brought.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd more than that, a claim that he has brought where he confirmed yesterday it is not him who thought of it \u2013 it was a billionaire backer, Jim Grenon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is troubling. Respectfully, I do say it\u2019s measured and proportionate to put the plaintiff in the horns of the dilemma he wants to be in and have him choose whether he prefers to proceed by meeting his obligations or have the claim struck out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge David Clark said he had options to accept Batchelor\u2019s response as it stood. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe consequence of that and based on any other evidence that we hear in the course of this trial, is that I will be entitled to take an adverse inference out of this refusal to disclose the names of the funders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or he could trigger a contempt of court process. \u201cThis effectively requires Mr Batchelor to answer the question which he refuses to do, and the consequences of that is he is held in contempt, which means on a practical basis, I\u2019m entitled to place him in custody until he answers the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or he could strike out the proceedings.<\/p>\n
Judge Clark said the case was still in its early stages and invoking the latter two options would be \u201cdraconian, disproportionate and presumptive\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a real problem with the difficulty of Mr Batchelor answering these questions. If it transpires that the evidence clearly establishes that the identity of these persons is relevant and cogent in terms of the outcome and determination of this matter, then I will clearly be taking an adverse inference in terms of this evidence, especially in and around the credibility of Mr Batchelor\u2019s evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge said that, \u201conly by a very fine margin, Mr Batchelor\u2019s proceeding can survive at this point in time, and we will continue on\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon session, Hattotuwa \u2013 on a video link from Sri Lanka \u2013 stood by his comments in the article.<\/p>\n
Hague suggested his statements were untrue. \u201cNo, I reject that,\u201d said Hattotuwa.<\/p>\n
Batchelor continues on the stand on Wednesday morning. TVNZ representatives are expected to take the stand for the defence, with closing statements set down for Thursday.<\/p>\n
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TVNZ is defending its work and Hattotuwa is defending his comments in the story. TVNZ\u2019s story focused on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3225,9092,16425,117616,11783,1121,82648,2741,18205,1349,23948,3936,5136,117618,49738,1601,2740,738,26265,117617,78,2936,16081,3958,24560,9933,1073,111,43,139,69,26263,1118,3111,5413,41167,26264,14446,1886,1120,84459,6445,6123,13971,3603],"class_list":["post-186864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-according","tag-against","tag-appears","tag-batchelor","tag-brought","tag-case","tag-christian","tag-claim","tag-considers","tag-court","tag-defamation","tag-director","tag-drama","tag-evangelist","tag-evidence","tag-expert","tag-former","tag-funding","tag-grenon","tag-grenonfunded","tag-in","tag-insider","tag-jim","tag-judge","tag-julian","tag-later","tag-media","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nzme","tag-of","tag-out","tag-peter","tag-presenter","tag-shareholder","tag-stand","tag-support","tag-takes","tag-throwing","tag-tvnz","tag-while","tag-williams","tag-witness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}