Broadcasting watchdog investigates complaint about Ryan Bridge’s comment – and says context is important.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority has rejected a complaint about a comment by radio host Ryan Bridge that the Prime Minister needed to “grow a bigger set of balls” over his handling of a Cabinet minister’s resignation.
In an opinion segment on Newstalk ZB’s Drive show in March, Bridge – who was filling in for Heather du Plessis-Allan – compared Prime Minister Christopher Luxon with Opposition leader and former PM Chris Hipkins.
“Question, does anybody seriously think, seriously think, that Chris Hipkins is the answer to all of our problems? That Chris Hipkins will be the next Prime Minister of New Zealand? No,” Bridge said.
He went on to say shortly afterwards: “Luxon is doing all the right things and hitting all the right issues, cost of living and now growth, but he’s just not that likeable, is he? But that’s okay. This is not a beauty contest ... ”
And further: “And today, how frustrating. Another example of [Luxon’s] political instincts letting him down. This time, it’s again Andrew Bayly. He did something supposedly bad, although nobody actually really knows how bad, but bad enough to resign as a minister.
“And then he asks to go on leave for two weeks to go hike in Nepal, and they let him go. Come on. He should have been made to sit in the back of the House and take his shame and take his punishment. Letting him skive off even though he’s taking leave just looks bad. Luxon needs to grow a pair, a bigger set of balls, and get a bit tougher.”
Listener Anthony Grant complained that the comment breached the “offensive and disturbing” content standard of the broadcasting code.
He said the phrase “needs to grow a bigger set of balls” was “crude, unhelpful and unnecessary language to express dismay at the performance of public officials, including the PM” and that there were more constructive ways to express disappointment without “resorting to such gendered or vulgar language”.
The comments were also “disrespectful” to the office of the PM.
In response, Newstalk ZB said Bridge was known for being “frank and direct” and holding “strong and provocative opinions”. The comment was not inconsistent with listeners’ expectations of him.
The term “bigger balls” was an idiom which was in popular usage as a colloquial way of describing someone who had courage or took risks, Newstalk ZB said.
It added that the comment “did not reach a level of harm that would make a limitation on the right to freedom of expression reasonable and justified”.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) said it acknowledged the complainant found Bridge’s comment offensive “and that other listeners may have as well”.
“However, we do not consider the broadcast would have disproportionately offended or distressed its audience, nor seriously violated community standards of taste and decency.”
The context of the comment was also important, the authority said – it was made on a show that centred on news and the presenter’s opinion; it had an adult target audience and audiences expected to be exposed to controversial or unpopular points of view.
“While it may be regarded as a crude metaphor equating male anatomy with bravery or strength, similar phrases have been used in other New Zealand political commentary when criticising perceived weakness in leadership or performance,” the BSA said in a decision signed by acting chair Pulotu Tupe Solomon-Tanoa’i.
“In this context, we have identified no harm is likely to have been caused by Bridge’s comments which would be sufficient to justify our intervention. Accordingly, we do not uphold this complaint under the offensive and disturbing content standard.”
It was unlikely to cause widespread, undue offence or distress among the audience.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s 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.
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