KEY POINTS:
High-profile Campbell Live reporter Jaquie Brown faces questions from her TV3 bosses about why she used a word coined by a public relations company in one of her stories.
Pead PR offered media employees the chance to win a trip to New York for using a newly created
word, "starkish", in their stories, a tactic criticised by media experts.
The company said it was delighted by Brown's story and she was a condender to win the prize.
But TV3 director of news and current affairs Mark Jennings said he would investigate.
"If she wins that trip, she won't be going," he said.
Brown had returned from an overseas trip yesterday and could not be contacted.
The contest started in October, and the word has since been linked to a new pre-mixed alcoholic drink called Stark.
The word was promoted as an adjective to describe something with a sense of proportion and good taste.
A web-log dubbed the starkish debate is tracking places the word has appeared. They include a cappuccino topping, advertising for a clothing label and an entry in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which has since been deleted.
TV One's Mark Sainsbury, NZ Idol's Dominic Bowden, the Sunday Star-Times' Greg Roughan and the Herald on Sunday's Jo McCarroll are among those to use the term.
The Herald and the Sunday Star-Times wrote stories about the competition last month and Radio New Zealand's Mediawatch also ran an item.
A winner was expected this week but the deadline for entries was extended until tomorrow to include mentions yet to go to print, said Pead PR's Deborah Pead.
The competition rules meant Sainsbury did not qualify for entry, despite using the term while co-hosting Breakfast, said Ms Pead, but Brown's use on Campbell Live did because she was invited to take part.
University of Canterbury journalism school head Jim Tully told the Herald the promotion created a conflict of interest for journalists.
Journalists Training Organisation executive director Jim Tucker said it was trying to attack the integrity of the news.
Sainsbury said he had a conversation with a friend about the term but did not know its background when he used it.
Mrs Pead said she had no problem encouraging use of the word and welcomed the controversy, which she said had "caused some good debate among media".