KENT NEWMAN DOCUMENTARY REALITY TELEVISION’S PRIVACY PROBLEM A dissertation submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Law. LAWS 592: DISSERTATION FACULTY OF LAW 2020 2 Documentary Reality Television’s Privacy Problem Table of Contents I Introduction .................................................................................................................... 6 A Why Does it Matter? .............................................................................................................7 B Structure .................................................................................................................................8 1 Part one: examining the genre ............................................................................................................9 2 Part two: the privacy implications of the genre ..................................................................................9 II What is Documentary Reality Television? ................................................................. 12 A The Origins of Documentary Reality Television ..............................................................12 1 Ayeni v CBS .................................................................................................................................... 14 2 Berger v Hanlon ............................................................................................................................... 15 3 Marichs v QRZ Media ..................................................................................................................... 16 B Documentary Reality Television Arrives in New Zealand ...............................................17 C New Zealand’s Muted Discussion ......................................................................................18 D Andrew v Television New Zealand ....................................................................................20 E Summary .............................................................................................................................21 III The Parties and Relationships .................................................................................. 22 A The Relationship of the Production Company and the Agency ......................................22 1 Access for the production company ................................................................................................. 23 2 Publicity ........................................................................................................................................... 25 3 What is missing from the agreement? .............................................................................................. 26 4 Conclusion on the relationship with the agency ............................................................................... 27 B The Relationship with Involuntary Participants ..............................................................27 C The Curious Situation of the Agencies’ Employees..........................................................32 D Conclusion about the Parties and Their Relationships ....................................................32 IV Could Authorising Agencies Be Liable for the Breach of Privacy? ........................ 34 A What is Required to be Joined to a Claim ........................................................................34 B The Contribution of Agencies .............................................................................................34 1 Access .............................................................................................................................................. 34 2 When the subject organisation uses its authority ............................................................................. 36 3 When the authority is an active producer ......................................................................................... 37 C Conclusion on Litigation Risk ............................................................................................38 D Conclusion to Part One ........................................................................................................38 V A Framework for Breach of Privacy .......................................................................... 40 2 3 Documentary Reality Television’s Privacy Problem A The Right to Privacy. ..........................................................................................................40 B The Instrumental Value of the Right to Privacy ..............................................................41 C Privacy Plays a Central Role in Dignity, Autonomy and Wellbeing. .............................43 D The Framework for Breach of Privacy by Publication ....................................................44 E The First Element is the Reasonable Expectation of Privacy ..........................................44 F The Second Element is Highly Offensive Publication ......................................................45 G The Third Element is the Absence of a Defence ...............................................................46 H Conclusion on the Framework for Breach of Privacy .....................................................47 VI The Genre Broadcasts Private Material ................................................................... 48 A What is Meant by “a Reasonable Expectation of Privacy”? ...........................................48 B The New Access Focuses on Traditionally Protected Spatial Areas ...............................50 C Access to Spatial Areas Traditionally Protected ..............................................................50 1 Access to homes ............................................................................................................................... 50 2 Access to cars ................................................................................................................................... 51 3 Bags and packages ........................................................................................................................... 51 4 Documents and correspondence ....................................................................................................... 52 D Is the Filming Occurring in Public Places? .......................................................................52 E The Genre Involves Topics Usually Considered Private..................................................56 F The Difficult Situation of Law Enforcement Information ...............................................57 1 Proposition one: there is no general presumption of innocent guaranteeing privacy protections of all prejudicial information .................................................................................................................... 57 2 Proposition two: the harm of disclosure is relevant ......................................................................... 58 3 Proposition three: the timing of the publication is also relevant ...................................................... 60 4 Conclusion on law enforcement material ......................................................................................... 60 G People Signal Expectations of Privacy ..............................................................................60 H Timing Matters ....................................................................................................................62 I Conclusion on the reasonable expectation of privacy.......................................................62 VII The Broadcast Content is Highly Offensive ........................................................... 63 A The Application of the Highly Offensive Test in Andrews v Television New Zealand .64 B The Core of the Test is Degrading or Humiliating Coverage ..........................................65 C Humouring Involuntary Participants ................................................................................66 D Humiliation and Degrading Coverage ...............................................................................67 3 4 Documentary Reality Television’s Privacy Problem E Vulnerability ........................................................................................................................68 F Offensiveness as a Result of the Collection ........................................................................69 G Offensiveness Explored: Ali v Channel 5. .........................................................................69 VIII The Breach is Not Answered by Any Defence ....................................................... 72 A What is a Defence? .............................................................................................................72 B Public Concern....................................................................................................................72 1 Documentary reality television is not news .................................................................................... 73 2 Public concern about public safety ................................................................................................. 74 C The Basis Illegality as a Defence ........................................................................................75 D Conclusion ............................................................................................................................77 IX So Why Are People