Laws told off for 'shoot rabid reporters' comment

Monday, 9 July 2012

A complaint has been upheld against broadcaster Michael Laws for saying he would shoot journalists who had reported on the 'teapot tapes' story during last year's election.

According to the Broadcasting Standards Authority's decision, released this afternoon, the Radio Live host was discussing the 'teapot tapes' story when he commented that 'it was one of the great issues of the election campaign but you won't have to hear it because the media have gone mad, rabid'.

'If I had a gun I'd shoot them, put them out of their misery, because they have gone rabid and they may infect others,' Laws said on his radio show.

The BSA said Laws, a former MP, then specifically mentioned the Herald on Sunday and questioned why someone hadn't taken a shotgun and 'cleaned out the entire news room'.

He then said that rabid journalists should be shot straight away or that poison should be laid in their newsroom, the BSA said.

Three of the four authority members found that the comments did breach standards of good taste and decency. A complaint of a breach of the standard relating to law and order was not upheld.

The BSA said it considered the publication of the decision to be sufficient punishment for the breach.

'We see this as a complaint which requires boundaries to be set,' the BSA panel said.

'We think that the broadcaster went over the boundary. Having endeavoured to mark the boundary more clearly, and expecting broadcasters to take care in the future, we do not consider that any order is warranted.'

Laws could not be contacted for comment and his employer, RadioWorks, would not comment.