Media Release: Media Council Upholds Complaint Against RNZ Over Coverage of Transgender Teen's Death
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1 October 2025
Media Council Upholds Complaint Against RNZ Over Coverage of Transgender Teen's Death
Rights Aotearoa acknowledges the Media Council's ruling released today regarding RNZ's coverage of the tragic death of Alex, a transgender teenager who died while in emergency accommodation. His death is currently the subject of a coronial investigation.
First and foremost, we extend our aroha and deepest sympathy to all who knew and loved Alex, especially his parents. His death represents a profound failure of our systems of care, and we honour his memory by working to ensure no young person faces such a situation again.
The Media Council has upheld complaints against RNZ under Principle (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance, finding that the article "Teenager starves to death alone in emergency accommodation" lacked balance and failed to present alternative perspectives, particularly once information about Alex's own voice became publicly available.
The Council's ruling notes concerning aspects of how this story came to be published. Paragraph 67 observes that "the fact that the story was brought to RNZ by a group that is regarded as having an anti-trans perspective should have alerted RNZ to the fact that there was a wider agenda at play." The Council found RNZ should have been more vigilant about balance and transparency in these circumstances. It should be noted that in other recent stories on social issues, RNZ had identified organisations and people acting as advocates, but not in this case.
Critically, the Media Council determined that while RNZ characterised this as "not a story about gender," the Council disagreed, finding that "gender was a key distinguishing element of the story and it needed to be dealt with in a balanced, careful way."
We acknowledge the important journalistic work of David Farrier and David Fisher, whose reporting brought Alex's own words to light and provided crucial context that had been absent from the original coverage.
Rights Aotearoa welcomes this ruling as an important step toward more ethical and balanced reporting on transgender lives. The Council's finding reinforces that media organisations must be particularly vigilant when sources may have particular agendas, especially when reporting on vulnerable communities.
We currently have a complaint before the Ombudsman regarding RNZ's response to our Official Information Act request about this matter. We await that investigation's findings before determining whether to pursue a complaint to the Human Rights Commission. Such a complaint would involve considerations of tikanga and the protection of mana after death - issues of profound importance to how we honour those who have passed.
This ruling validates many of the concerns raised by our organisation and the transgender community about the original article. We hope it leads to stronger editorial practices that centre the dignity and self-determination of all people, particularly our rangatahi.
The Media Council’s ruling can be found here:
https://www.mediacouncil.org.nz/rulings/parker-et-al-against-radio-new-zealand/
This statement is attributable to:
Paul Thistoll
Chief Executive Officer
Rights Aotearoa
ENDS
