Police probe TV ‘smear’

Press, 27 August 1977, Page 7

Police probe TV ‘smear’

I PA Wellington i Top-level talks are being held to sort out what the (police allege is unfair treat-i (ment by television. i The Commissioner of Police. I (Mr K. B. Burnside) has ! (started what the Minister of! Police (Mr McCreadv) hopes (will be “fruitful discussions” (with the Director-General of, TVI (Mr Allen Morris) about television programmes deal- • ing with the police. Mr McCreadv disclosed this in Parliament in reply to a question by an Opposition back-bencher, Mr D. R. Lange (Mangere), who had asked him to be more specific about his reported statement that a “smear campaign” appeared to be under way against the police. “What I said was that one could be excused for concluding that some form of ‘smear campaign’ is under way.” Mr McCready replied. “I was referring in particular to three specific ‘Dateline’ programmes on TVI.” The first programme was

i on July 4, when ‘‘the whole programme was devoted to ; unsubstantiated allegations , against how Auckland detectives gained evidence." The second was on August 1, ‘‘when ‘Dateline’ implied : that the police had >! broken the law to expose a fj computer employee who was' i| suspected of leaking informa’jtion.” i “Dateline” subsequently! tjmade a correction, said Mri McCready. “On the same programme there were two other unfavourable inaccuracies that would have been obvious to anyone who had read The Chief Ombudsman’s report. “Again, last Monday evening, the ‘Dateline’ interviewer dropped the names Gerald O’Brien and Colin Moyle when addressing David Exel, the Labour Party’s communications director. “In the course of his reply, Mr Exel said it was not just a coincidence that two senior vice-presidents had been brought into disrepute for allegations of homosexual activities.” said Mr McCready.