At the outset, we sincerely apologise for any distress or offence that may have been caused as a result of the Report as it is certainly not Nine’s intention to offend or upset its viewers. We acknowledge that the Report has inadvertently upset you, and we understand the reasons for your concerns.Your complaint raises issues covered by the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice (Code). The Code states at clause 3.3.1: "In broadcasting a news or Current Affairs Program, a Licensee must present factual material accurately and ensure viewpoints included in the Program are not misrepresented." Importantly, the Code provides a number of exceptions to the requirement, including at clause 3.3.2 which applies the requirement only to material facts and material misrepresentations, and at clause 3.1.2 which provides for an assessment of the circumstances in which the content was produced, and the context of the report in its entirety.

In order to consider your concerns, we have reviewed the Report the subject of your complaint. The Report related to the death of Mr Elie Wiesel, an Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We understand your complaint relates to use by Nine of the phrase “Polish concentration camp”.

We regret that the use of this term has been upsetting to you, however, Nine’s use of this phrase was intended to refer to the location of the camp, which was in German-occupied Poland, and was not referring to those who administered the camp. We note that the occupation of Poland and establishment by Nazis of concentration camps during the Second World War are well known historical facts and viewers are likely to be familiar with both the location of the camps, and the constituency of them, which included a significant number of people of Polish nationality.

For this reason, Nine does not consider that any viewer would be materially mislead by the substance of the Report. As noted, Nine understands your concerns, but those concerns need to be assessed against the Code in order to establish whether there has been any breach of the Code. In this instance, based on the material broadcast, Nine does not believe that the use of this phrase has a material effect on the meaning to be obtained by viewers in the context of the Report in its entirety, which otherwise commemorated the life, messages and achievements of Mr Wiesel.

We also note that Nine’s online coverage of this news story included the terms “Nazi concentration camps” and “Nazi death camps”. For your reference, these articles remain online and can be viewed at www.9news.com.au/world/2016/07/04/02/45/mourners-say-farewell-to-elie-wiesel-in-new-york and www.9news.com.au/world/2016/07/03/06/24/holocaust-survivor-and-nobel-laureate-elie-wiesel-dies-aged-87.

We wish to assure you that Nine makes every effort to ensure that its news content is compliant with the Code, however, in light of our investigations as set out above, we do not consider that there has been a contravention of the Code in this instance. We again apologise for any distress or offence that may have been caused by the broadcast of the material the subject of your complaint as this was certainly not Nine’s intention. The Report did not contain any content implicating the Polish people in concentration camp atrocities and made no reference, negative or otherwise, to Polish people. The only reference to Poland was in the context of describing the geographical location of the concentration camp.

Although we do not consider that there has been a contravention of the Code, we do appreciate your concerns and for this reason, we have taken steps to inform the relevant news staff so they are aware of your complaint and mindful of such issues in the future.

We thank you for taking the time to raise your concerns with us. We trust that this letter addresses your concerns, however, if you are not satisfied with this response you may refer this matter to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Yours sincerely
Compliance Department
Nine Network Australia

* * *

Prof. Andrzej Kozek decided to follow the matter up and replied.

"Dear Compliance Department.

I am referring to your letter of 9th August 2016. I accept your apology and trust that the use by Nine of the phrase “Polish concentration camp” was indeed inadvertent and intended to refer to the location of the camp.

Let me note, you have not been alone in, say inadvertently, distressing Polish audience by references to “Polish concentration camps”. This happened as well to President Obama who used term “Polish death camp” abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/in-letter-to-polish-president-president-obama-expresses-regret-over-term-polish-death-camp/.

In contrast however to your elaborate argument concluding that Nine complied with the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice, President Obama wrote in a letter to the Polish President: "I regret the error and agree that this moment is an opportunity to ensure that this and future generations know the truth."

President Obama’s concern that this and future generations know the truth contrasts with your view: “we respectfully disagree that a substantial number of viewers would reasonably interpret the statement in the manner you have suggested”.

Unfortunately, my personal experience is more pessimistic than yours and close to the results of the UK polls available online. www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-weldon/holocaust-polls_b_6523306.html

The increasing worldwide trend in excusing Germans from the atrocities committed during WWII seems correlated with no response in your reply to my two questions. Below I am including further links contributing to my concern. 70.auschwitz.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=173&lang=en

auschwitz.org/en/history/holocaust-denial/

Yours sincerely
Andrzej Kozek
Honorary Fellow, Associate Professor
Macquarie University