13 TV channels fined for airing ‘false news’
On July 12, almost all private television channels aired news about Imran Khan’s third marriage. Despite Imran’s categorical rejection the channels continued to air the news
ISLAMABAD: The country’s broadcast media regulator imposed a penalty of Rs500,000 on 13 private television channels for airing fabricated news concerning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson’s third marriage.
The punitive measure was announced by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Saturday, even though PTI had long withdrawn its complaint.
The authority maintained that the decision of imposing a fine was aimed at ‘upholding the standards of journalism’. Each channel would have to pay a pen- alty of Rs500,000, PEMRA Complaints Council Islamabad said.
On July 12, almost all private television channels aired news about Imran Khan’s third marriage. Despite Imran’s categorical rejection the channels continued to air the news. PTI Head of Central Media Department Iftikhar Durrani lodged a complaint against the channels on July 13. The party, however, withdrew its complaint against all the channels, except Dunya TV, on August 26.
PEMRA has also directed the 13 television channels to tender an unconditional apology for airing the false news, warning that non- compliance of which could lead to the cancellation of their licences.
“It’s against the fundamentals of justice. All channels who violated the code of conduct will be punished in a bid to uphold standards of journalism,” PEMRA said in a statement.
Reacting to PEMRA’s decision, Durrani said the move seemed to be ‘politically motivated’. PTI reserves every right to opt for legal course of action against PEMRA’s decision, Durrani said adding that he had lodged a complaint not to target any TV channel but to make them realise their sense of responsibility.