TV team in booze row

Television news show 60 Minutes denies allegations it bought alcohol for a group of young Hawke's Bay women interviewed for its story Girls in the Hood which screened on TV3 on Sunday.
Instead, the producer of the show said the 60 Minutes team was invited to attend a party and took along a small quantity of alcohol "in the customary way".
Executive producer Terrence Taylor said the party was held by an adult and took place after all the interviews had been completed.
"No other alcohol was given to anyone," he said in written replies to Hawke's Bay Today.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said he was disappointed with the way the story on girl gangs portrayed Hastings, Napier and in particular Flaxmere.
"I'm just trying to stand up for a part of my community that has been shafted by a journalist from outside the area," he said.
Mr Yule said it had appeared to him the young girls interviewed had been supplied alcohol as a prop for the story. They were filmed drinking a bottle of Johnny Walker whisky.
Today he was meeting Riverslea Community Trust spokeswoman Roberta Karangaroa to talk about their options, which may include a complaint to the New Zealand Press Council.
Ms Karangaroa, who works with youth, said she also had heard a bottle of alcohol had been bought by 60 Minutes and given to the girls to drink while they were filmed for the story.
Mr Yule and Ms Karangaroa were upset the girls had been asked to re-enact a burglary on the show.
Mr Taylor said the girls 60 Minutes interviewed did act out a burglary scene but re-enactments were often used in current affairs shows.
" ... and we are sure that viewers would see from the way it was filmed that this was clearly re-enacted," he said.
Mr Taylor said 60 Minutes did not say there were limited services available to help girls in gangs back on to the straight and narrow.
"A participant in the story, a knowledgeable expert on girl 'crews', suggested that young women are attracted to these groups because they don't receive enough support elsewhere. This was her honest opinion," he said.
Mr Taylor said the 60 Minutes team did seek comment from the Maori community in the course of researching the story.
"We spoke to a community group, who agreed that girl crews are a problem in the area," he said.
"We stand by the story, which we believe highlighted a serious issue. In the light of the interest that it seems to have created, we are considering returning to do a follow-up," he said.
Obscene language had been displayed on the 60 Minutes website from bloggers leaving comments about the Girls in the Hood story.