{"id":188379,"date":"2025-12-17T14:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/188379\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T14:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:47:15","slug":"tvnz-wins-high-court-defamation-battle-over-talleys-safety-reporting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/188379\/","title":{"rendered":"TVNZ wins High Court defamation battle over Talley\u2019s safety reporting"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a five-week trial, Justice Jagose has comprehensively ruled in TVNZ\u2019s and Mead\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n

\"TVNZTVNZ reporter Thomas Mead giving evidence at the Auckland High Court during the trial. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

All but one of Talley\u2019s claims were determined as not defamatory by the court, and the single claim that survived failed due to TVNZ\u2019s defences.<\/p>\n

Justice Jagose said he found TVNZ\u2019s publication of its July 3, 2021 broadcast, which focused on the emergency stop buttons and safety issues not being addressed, to have an interpretation or meaning \u201cnot materially different from the relevant imputation pleaded by Talley\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, Justice Jagose said that because Talley\u2019s had not proved the publication caused, or was likely to cause, pecuniary loss to Talley\u2019s \u2013 its proceeding failed.<\/p>\n

Justice Jagose also said that had Talley\u2019s been able to prove any pecuniary loss caused by TVNZ, he still would have ruled in its favour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have found the publication nonetheless was TVNZ\u2019s responsible communication on a matter of public interest, meaning TVNZ still would have succeeded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LawyerLawyer for TVNZ Davey Salmon (left) at the Auckland High Court during the trial. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

Both parties employed high-profile lawyers for the case, with Talley\u2019s represented by Brian Dickey, the former Crown Solicitor for Auckland.<\/p>\n

TVNZ retained the services of Davey Salmon, KC.<\/p>\n

Talley\u2019s was not seeking damages, but rather was seeking to clear its name with a declaration that the stories were defamatory.<\/p>\n

Talley\u2019s have been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

TVNZ reacts<\/p>\n

TVNZ and Mead welcomed the High Court\u2019s dismissal of Talley\u2019s proceedings, with Mead describing the decision as \u201cvindication for the Talley\u2019s and Affco workers\u201d.<\/p>\n

TVNZ said it stood by its stories when they went to air, and it stands by them today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout this case, our position has been consistent: investigative reporting, conducted responsibly, serves the public interest. The court\u2019s decision affirms this principle,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important result for us, for New Zealand journalism and for the people impacted by the very issues we reported on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mead said it was the workers\u2019 courage in both the stories and the trial that should be remembered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so proud of everyone involved in defending this claim. As journalists we have a duty to serve the public and it is an honour to work here at TVNZ, a newsroom that is united in that duty and not afraid to hold power to account,\u201d Mead said.<\/p>\n

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a five-week trial, Justice Jagose has comprehensively ruled in TVNZ\u2019s and Mead\u2019s favour. TVNZ reporter Thomas Mead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9092,51,5837,1121,49063,67649,1349,23948,68923,564,42,2959,2514,5836,1073,43,1523,28203,5352,29946,6302,1240,23947,417,40,38,41,39,6445,6202,102,80],"class_list":["post-188379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-against","tag-auckland","tag-battle","tag-case","tag-companys","tag-comprehensively","tag-court","tag-defamation","tag-favour","tag-food","tag-headlines","tag-high","tag-island","tag-lost","tag-media","tag-news","tag-over","tag-producer","tag-reporting","tag-ruling","tag-safety","tag-south","tag-talleys","tag-television","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-tvnz","tag-wins","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188379","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=188379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}