TVNZ has upheld complaints against Paul Henry, agreeing that his comments about singer Susan Boyle were in bad taste. That's good news - it suggests that they at least know what the words mean - but I'm left wondering whether it will change anything. There's no suggestion that Henry will face any punishment for his abuse, and TVNZ's head of news goes out of his way to defend him, saying that his "boundary-pushing style" and "sense of humour" have a "legitimate place" in broadcasting. Yeah, right. We don't tolerate abusing people for their disabilities or their appearance in public; why should we tolerate it on TV?
The result is that TVNZ's finding looks less than sincere, an attempt to placate the public while doing absolutely nothing to address the underlying problem of Henry's overinflated ego and nasty sense of superiority. Which means he'll simply do it again in a month or two.
Update: And according to the Herald, Henry has made the usual non-apology, "apologising" that "ome people have taken what I said in a way that I never intended". In other words, its not his fault - its ours for being "hypersensitive". What a prick.
