The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Tuesday said Channels
\nTelevision has apologised over its infraction of the broadcasting code.<\/p>\n
NBC\u2019s Director of Public Affairs, Mrs Franca Aiyetan, said this in an
\ninterview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Tuesday in Abuja.<\/p>\n
Aiyetan explained that the commission\u2019s letter to the TV station was a
\nregulatory instrument to check the excesses of the station called \u201cthe
\nbridge letter \u201c.<\/p>\n
She said that the intent of the letter was neither to close down nor
\nsanction the station, rather it was meant to draw the station\u2019s
\nattention to its breach of the broadcasting code, adding that \u201cthe
\nstation has accordingly apologised\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
According to her, the letter is asking Channels TV to explain why it
\ngave credence to an organisation that was already proscribed by the
\nFederal Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was actually not for public consumption, it was not a press release.
\nIt was a regulatory instrument to check the excesses of the station.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a station that won an award but we say in this particular
\nsituation, you did not handle it professionally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is possible to bridge the public peace and that was what the letter
\nconveyed to Channels TV, to which the TV station has responded, saying
\nwe apologise, we did wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the media started asking me about Channels TV, I had to go and
\nfind out what letter we had issued out because if it is a press release
\nor something that is for public consumption it will come to the Public
\nAffairs Department of NBC.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I will be able to communicate to the media about it but this letter
\nthat went to Channels TV is our way of regulating the broadcasting
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is called a bridge letter to the station to say in this particular
\nprogramme you did not act professionally; you did not do it in line with
\nthe provision of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.\u201d<\/p>\n
The director further explained that the particular programme in
\nreference was an interview of somebody who was representing an
\norganisation that was already proscribed by the Federal Government.<\/p>\n
She said that in the exercise of its power as the regulatory body, NBC
\nwrote a letter asking Channels TV to explain why it gave credence to the
\nspokesman of the proscribed organisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe spokesman made lots of allusion that were not true, that are
\ninciting and inimical to the peace of the society that could cause
\nunrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NBC now said because of that this bridge attracts a shut down or a
\nfine of N5 million; but the pay line was that they were advised to
\ndiscontinue the programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause when a station interviews live, the keep repeating it for maybe
\n24 hours before that kind of news will be dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when I followed up on Monday April 26, I discovered that the
\nmonitoring department that had written the letter had also received an
\napology letter from the Channels TV to say okay, we have received your
\nletter and see where we went wrong, we are sorry.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it is now left for NBC to say this station has responded or reacted
\nthis way. The letter was neither meant to shut down the station nor
\nsanction it. Rather, it is drawing their attention to what they have
\ndone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aiyetan said that the station was also free to write NBC back to say \u201cwe
\nstand on what we have done because in our own professional analysis of
\nwhat we have done we think we are right.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMay be NBC misinterpreted our intention. And when we have a situation
\nlike that, we invite the station to sit down on dialogue table and
\nunderstand where they are coming from.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then we will also explain to say this is what you intend to do but
\nfor those receiving the signals, this is what it connotes, this is what
\nthe gravity of what you have done to the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to her, when a particular programme in a bid to pursue a
\nparticular trending issue begins to threaten the security and peace of
\nthe nation, then you check yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause broadcasting is not self-serving; it is for the society. So
\neverything you do must be to the common good of the people and it must
\nalso hold the people accountable.\u201d (NAN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Tuesday said Channels Television has apologised over its infraction of the broadcasting code. NBC\u2019s Director of Public Affairs, Mrs Franca Aiyetan, said this in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n