*Y against TVNZ
Case Number: 3832
Council Meeting: 2 February 2026
Decision: Not Upheld
Publication: TVNZ
Principle:
Accuracy, Fairness and Balance
Comment and Fact
Ruling Categories:
Accuracy
Balance, Lack Of
Comment and Fact
Headlines and Captions
Unfair Coverage
Overview
1. On 25 October 2025, 1News published an online article Govt's puberty blockers decision holding up ‘life or death’ health guidelines. *Y complained the article breached Principle (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance and Principle (4) Comment and Fact. The complaint is not upheld.
The Article
2. The article reported on the government’s delay in publishing updated gender affirming guidelines and the impact of that on patients and their doctors. It included comment from Health New Zealand, a GP, and a young transgender person (Natasha).
3. The article explained the guidelines were to have been published in March 2025, but publication was delayed while the government considered its decision on puberty blockers. The article said a group of more than 300 stakeholders had written an open letter to the government asking it to publish the guidelines, replacing those published seven years ago.
4. The article concluded with Natasha’s message to the government: “Healthcare should be for everyone; this is literally life or death situations. Just be kind and let this information get out.”
The Complaint
5. *Y said the reference to ‘life or death’ in the headline attracted her attention to the article, as it would for other readers. *Y said the statement that “gender affirming healthcare guidelines are ‘literally life or death’ is inaccurate, cruel and irresponsible” in breach of Principle (1).
6. *Y said the article breached Principle (4) because while the “life or death” statement was a quote, it was a serious statement that should have been fact checked rather than left as a “undisputed claim from the interviewee.” *Y said the statement “perpetuates the lie that giving people puberty blockers and/or cross sex hormones or surgeries will prevent them from killing themselves.”
7. *Y said the headline and undisputed claims from the interviewee “gives the message that people with gender distress may suicide if they don’t get gender affirming healthcare. This is the clear implication and evidenced by the mental health helplines at the end of the article.”
8. *Y further explained:
“It is extremely important to differentiate between suicidal ideation (feeling suicidal) and actual completed suicide rates, because many people going through a distressing time will feel suicidal and for the vast majority of these people this feeling will pass. This is the positive message we should be giving NZers, especially adolescents.” (Emphasis in original)
9. *Y referred to advice on reporting on suicide from the Mental Health Foundation that “warns against ‘misleading people through inappropriate blame or over-simplification.’” *Y quoted from the Foundation’s website, which advises:
Double check facts and stats before reporting them – sometimes claims are made that certain groups are more likely to die by suicide than others, and this is not always the case. This can create a false impression of a worsening crisis and cause people to feel panicked, helpless and hopeless.
10. *Y also referenced the Ministry of Health’s website on media reporting on self-harm and suicide. *Y said the website advised “sensationalist headlines”, “reporting that depicts suicide as inevitable” and “reporting that reinforces myths about suicide” were “particularly problematic”.
11. *Y provided references to research studies and articles, including the UK Government’s review into gender affirming healthcare (the Cass Review). *Y said the Cass Report’s systematic review found “no evidence that shows that puberty blockers and cross sex hormones reduces the completed suicide rate.” She said the research TVNZ referred to was unreliable and had been discredited in the Cass Review.
12. After reading the now published guidelines, *Y said “there is nothing in them about death by any other means. … It does, however, discuss death by suicide in the mental wellbeing section.”
13. In final comments, *Y said, “It is ludicrous to suggest that ‘life or death’ means anything other than suicide – there is no other plausible explanation for how these treatments prevent death.” *Y did not accept the statement could be hyperbole.
14. *Y wanted 1News to
correct its reporting that access to new guidelines is ‘life or death’ and that, actually, suicides amongst this group is very rare (0.03%) and that there is no evidence that gender affirming care makes any difference to the suicide rate.
The Response
15. 1News said it was clear in the headline and in Natasha’s statement that the matter being discussed (or delayed) were the guidelines, not puberty blockers. It said the guidelines cover a broad range of matters, including mental and sexual health fertility care, all of which have aspects that “could reasonably be considered ‘life and death’ for patients depending on their circumstances.”
16. 1News said *Y had incorrectly assumed Natasha was talking about:
a. puberty blockers and/or cross sex hormones or surgeries
b. “suicide rather than any of the other factors which could be reasonable considered to matters of life or death in the broader description of ‘healthcare’ or the issues discussed in the guidelines.”
17. 1News said *Y’s distinction between suicidal ideation and completed suicide awas not relevant as the article did not directly discuss suicide and the focus was on healthcare more broadly. It also did not believe the research *Y referenced was relevant as it focused on the links (or absence of) between medical intervention (hormones, surgery) and suicide and suicide ideation.
18. 1News referenced UCLA research that found suicide ideation and attempted suicide was significantly higher for transgender adults than for the US general population, and this reduced for transgender adults receiving hormone therapy or surgery or both.
19. 1News said the words ‘life or death’ were used by Natasha, who was entitled under the Bill of Rights Act 1990 to express her opinion. The words were directly attributed to Natasha in the article, and the use of quote marks in the headline made it clear it was an interviewee’s opinion. 1News also said the headline “is an entirely accurate summation of Natasha’s belief in the seriousness of the issue”.
20. 1News said its inclusion of suicide prevention helplines at the end of the article does not mean the article was about suicide. The helplines referenced covered a broad range of support services, and to do so was common practice.
The Discussion
21. The Council has considered the complaint under Principles (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance, (4) Opinion and Fact, and Principle (10) Headlines and Captions.
- Principle (1) requires publications to “be bound at all times by accuracy, fairness and balance, and should not deliberately mislead or misinform readers by commission or omission.”
- Principle (4) says: A clear distinction should be drawn between factual information and comment or opinion. An article that is essentially comment or opinion should be clearly presented as such. Material facts on which an opinion is based should be accurate.
- Principle (10) says “Headlines, sub-headings, and captions should accurately and fairly convey the substance or a key element of the report they are designed to cover.”
22. The article was a piece of news reporting that contained the opinion of an interviewee that publishing the guidelines was a matter “literally life or death situations”, and the words “lie or death” were elevated into the headline. In both the article and the headline, the words were included within quote marks, showing they were words used by the interviewee.
23. Section 14 of the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 gives Natasha the right to express her opinion. It is not clear from the article whether Natasha was:
a. Talking about the risk of death from suicide
b. talking about the risk of death from the inadequate treatment of co-morbidities (for example, anorexia) or from patients having to find the drugs they needed on the black market
c. using dramatic language to communicate the importance of the guidelines being available to health professionals, or
d. including all the above possibilities.
24. The Council does not find the article in breach of Principle (6). The Principle requires the words “life or death” in the headline to accurately and fairly convey the “substance or a key element” of the article. Natasha’s story was a key element of the article, and she described her significant difficulties in accessing appropriate care in the absence of the guidelines. The words “life or death” summed up her serious concern at the continuing delay in having the guidelines published and available to health professionals.
25. *Y has challenged the accuracy of Natasha’s view that withholding the guidelines is literally a ‘life-or-death’ matter. In doing so, *Y has assumed the meaning of “life or death” is limited to suicide and has referenced research to show it is inaccurate to link a lack of access to gender affirming healthcare for trans people to death by suicide. She has noted that the now published guidelines do not refer to death apart from suicide.
26. Given the Media Council’s finding that the words do not exclusively refer to suicide, the Council does not find the article in breach of either Principle (1) or Principle (4). Natasha is entitled to her view, and 1News is entitled to report it.
Decision: The complaint is not upheld on Principles (1) and (4) or (6)
*Name withheld to protect the complainant.
Council members considering the complaint were Hon Raynor Asher (Chair), Hank Schouten, Tim Watkin, Guy MacGibbon, Scott Inglis, Ben France-Hudson, Jo Cribb, Judi Jones, Marie Shroff, Alison Thom, Richard Pamatatau, Bernadette Courtney