22 Jun 2015

MediaWorks apologises to John Tamihere

9:24 pm on 22 June 2015

MediaWorks has been forced to make a public apology to the former radio talkback host John Tamihere.

The company had also reached an out-of-court settlement after Mr Tamihere took a defamation case against it over its handling of his departure from one of its stations, RadioLive, in 2013.

MediaWorks said the public's perception that Mr Tamihere had been dismissed from the station as a result of an interview he did about the Roastbusters case was incorrect.

The interview, with a teenage girl who claimed she was friends with one of the victims, had been heavily criticised by some people as "victim blaming".

Mr Tamihere and his co-host Willie Jackson were both stood down.

MediaWorks said it acknowledged Mr Tamihere had not breached any broadcasting standards in the interview.

"Following a thorough investigation, MediaWorks' Broadcasting Standards Committee completely exonerated Mr Tamihere from any breach of any broadcasting standards.

"In particular, the Broadcasting Standards Committee found John Tamihere had not breached any standard of good taste and or decency," the statement said.

"MediaWorks accepts and acknowledges that John acted completely professionally, entirely within the bounds of his role as a talk back host and with good taste and decency."

The company said his departure was due to his fixed term contract coming to an end in December that year.

Mr Tamihere said it had been a difficult 18 months for his tamariki and whānau, but the settlement means he could move on.

Mr Tamihere told Te Manu Korihi he could not comment further due to the confidentiality of the out-of-court settlement that had been reached.