Seven News cleared of code complaint

Seven News has been cleared of a complaint following a news report in December.

The report was broadcast by Seven News Coast looked at the shortage of affordable rental accommodation and increasing rents in the Coffs Harbour area.

It presented a case study of a tenant who had been given a termination notice by his real estate agent on the lease of his apartment because the owner of the property wished to renovate.

The complaint stated the narrative by the Reporter portrayed the Agent as acting on a frolic of their own, by lying to tenants and increasing rents, in breach of tenancy legislation. They claimed the story that aired was almost wholly inaccurate and completely misrepresented the facts.

But media watchdog the Australian Communications and Media Authority found that the material facts were presented accurately.

The ordinary reasonable viewer would have understood that the Report was raising broader questions around rent affordability and did not aim to present a fulsome or final view on the dispute between the landlord and the Tenant.

As a result, Seven did not breach the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.