TVNZ viewers claim anonymous Destiny Church whistleblower’s face ‘visible’, TVNZ cuts clip out of ‘abundance of caution’

TVNZ chief correspondent John Campbell aired an investigation into Destiny Church on TVNZ+ on Thursday morning. Photo / Greg Bowker

• Some TVNZ viewers claim a Destiny Church whistleblower’s face was too visible during a 1News at Six bulletin.
• An edited bulletin was uploaded to TVNZ’s site without the Destiny Church story.
• TVNZ says it removed the segment out of an “abundance of caution”.

The broadcasting watchdog has confirmed it has received complaints after TVNZ said it cut a story featuring an anonymous Destiny Church whistleblower from the digital version of a 1News bulletin out of an “abundance of caution”.

Some viewers claim the whistleblower’s face was too visible during the segment and say they were shocked by what they saw.

TVNZ chief correspondent John Campbell launched Under His Command, an investigation into Destiny Church, on the broadcaster’s streaming service TVNZ+ on Thursday morning. That night’s 1News at Six teased the series and featured clips from it.

Campbell, in the clips that aired on 1News, interviewed a woman who was said to be living in hiding after fleeing abuse from her former partner, a member of the Destiny Church’s anti-violence group, Man Up.

But the face of the victim – who is said to be “under a protection order” and “asked for her face to be hidden” – was too visible during the bulletin, according to some viewers.

Today, the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) confirmed it has “received complaints about the broadcast”.

“The authority generally does not comment on a complaint until it has formally considered it and issued a decision, which will outline in full the BSA’s reasoning and findings,” a spokesperson said.

“We are therefore not in a position to say anything about the nature of any alleged breach, or to speculate on the outcome of any potential decision or the analysis that could lead to it, or to make any public comment that could prejudice future consideration of a complaint.”

An edited version of 1News at Six was later uploaded to the TVNZ+ website, but with the Destiny Church segment removed.

“1News at Six was uploaded to TVNZ+ late last night. A story was removed from the bulletin out of an abundance of caution which caused a delay,” a TVNZ spokesperson told the Herald.

“John Campbell’s five-part series premiered on TVNZ+ yesterday [Thursday]. It remains available and there have been no changes to this series.”

A TVNZ spokeswoman wouldn’t comment when asked why the story was removed from the 1News bulletin, if the content is still live on TVNZ+.

Some viewers took to social media to express their shock at the level of visibility of the woman’s face on 1News.

“The live bulletin showed her face, clearly, although the lighting setup was dark, her face was visible.

“My partner and I couldn’t believe what we were seeing,” one person said on social media.

“Her face was clearly visible while they were saying that she spoke on the condition of anonymity ... Seriously poor standard of editing.”

Another social media user commented: “I took a photo of it, thought I was seeing things … but nope, maybe I need to send it to the BSA [Broadcasting Standards Authority].”

Another viewer said they saw the programme live and were “yelling at the TV” over the issue.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.