Local councils are being reminded they should be prepared to receive scrutiny from the media.

The calls comes as the Broadcasting Standards Authority dismisses a complaint from the Taranaki Regional Council over the way a journalist reported on a complex fracking issue.

Massey University researcher, Dr Catherine Strong, says councils need to open their lines of communication with journalists.

She says they should expect to be asked the tough questions.

"They're doing that on behalf of the public, and the public is the one that's paying for them, and the public is the one who's actually going to be affected by their decisions," she says.