Business Briefs
THE National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has sanctioned 45 broadcasting stations across the country for alleged breach of its code in the second quarter of 2019. Ishaq Kawu, director general, NBC, said the contraventions included breaches of the rules on hate speech, abusive and inflammatory broadcast.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, September 25, Kawu said the commission’s Second Quarter Monitoring of Broadcast Stations Profile was from April to June, 2019. “Coming shortly after the national and state elections in the first quarter of the year, the report indicates that though there is a drop in breaches related to hateful, abusive and inflammatory broadcast, which peaked during the elections.
“Thus as many as 45 stations were fined in the 2nd quarter indicating that the trend has continued among certain stations, especially in political programmes. Therefore, 20 stations were fined in the 2nd quarter for breaching provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code on Hate speech.
“Other breaches were in the area of Obscene and Vulgar Lyrics- a total of 10 stations were fined for infractions related to use of Vulgar Lyrics and Obscene Content. It is worth mentioning that the Programme Big Brother NAIJA was cautioned against unwholesome content on its broadcast,” he said.
According to Kawu, the use of unsubstantiated and misleading claims by advertisers, especially Trado medic advertising, also dropped significantly from the last quarter, but that a total of 30 stations were fined for infractions related to same. He added that 10 broadcast stations were fined for breaches related to station announcers turning themselves to advertisers, hypers and promoters of products.
“Obscenity: Kaduna Zone recorded highest with 36.53 percent, followed by Abuja Zone with 17.31 percent and Uyo Zone came third with 15.38 percent. Hate Speech: Abuja Zone topped the chart with 19.21 percent, followed by Kaduna zone with 18.22 percent and Maiduguri Zone came third with a record of 15.27 percent, while the least in hate speech was Ibadan zone with 6.89 percent.
“Unprofessionalism: Three zones topped the chart with the same percentages. Kaduna zone, Sokoto zone and Uyo topped the chart with 20.00 percent each, followed by Jos zone with 3.85 percent, while Ibadan and Benin recorded lowest with 2.95 percent and 3.44 percent respectively. Unverifiable Claims: Ibadan zone recorded highest with 25.33 percent, followed by Abuja zone with 13.33 percent, while Jos zone and Kaduna zones came 3rd with 12.00 percent each and Sokoto zone and Uyo recorded the lowest with 2.67 percent each.
“Advertisement: Abuja zone recorded highest with 24.43 percent, followed by Enugu zone with 16.40 percent, while Maiduguri zone recorded lowest with 1.53 percent. “For Technical Breach: Maiduguri zone recorded highest with 31.81 percent, followed by Benin zone and Sokoto zone recorded same scores 22.73 percent each, while Abuja zone, Enugu zone and Jos zone recorded the lowest with 4.54 percent each.
“Abuja zone recorded highest with 47.17 percent, Ibadan zone came second with 15.09 percent and Benin came 3rd with 13.22 percent, while the lowest was Enugu Zone with 1.89 percent,” he said.
Kawu cautioned stations across the country about a pattern of behaviours, which are a threat to the country’s democracy and rule of law. He maintained that the commission’s monitoring activities indicated that some stations, especially African Independent Television, AIT, are deliberately meddling in the cases before the election tribunal.
“It is trite knowledge that the media cannot comment on or discuss the details of any matter in court. The Broadcast Code in section 1.16.1 (f) requires all broadcasters to comply with the law of contempt relating to matters pending before the law courts.”
– Sept. 27, 2019 @ 16:35 GMT |
Tags: NBC fines 45 stations for violating broadcast code in Q2 – DG
