Media Stations Sanctioned By NBC For EndSars Report Have Paid Their Fines — Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government says the sanctions imposed on some
broadcast media stations in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests
were justified and that the affected stations already paid their
fines.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated
this on Thursday in Abuja at a media briefing on the #EndSARS
protest and its aftermaths.

The minister said that two of the stations paid their fines in
full, while the third paid a part of the fine, with an appeal for
time to pay the balance.

Mohammed stressed that the fines imposed on the stations by the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) were not only justified but
that the NBC was indeed lenient.

“In the aftermath of the EndSARS crisis, NBC fined three
broadcast stations for using unverified and dangerous information
from social media.

“Commentators, many of whom didn’t even know why the NBC imposed
the fine, rushed to allege an attempt to stifle free speech.

“Unknown to them, the stations themselves knew that they
breached the Broadcast Code.

“It is sad to see the traditional media jettisoning the age-long
gate-keeping process and instead rushing to rely on the
free-wheeling social media, devoid of any gatekeeping, for news,’’
he said.

The minister also said it was imperative for the traditional
media to authenticate the information from social media or from any
source, for that matter, before publishing or broadcasting the
same.

He condemned the emerging trend in which traditional media
freely used materials from social media sources without taking the
pains to verify their authenticity.

“This is a dangerous trend that must be curbed, in the interest
of media practitioners themselves, the profession and indeed the
country,’’ he said.

Mohammed said if NBC had wielded the big stick during the
protest, some broadcast media organisations would have faced more
severe sanctions than mere fines.

“Recall that an otherwise reputable broadcast media organisation
had carried a fake report that the Ecumenical Centre in Abuja was
on fire during the violence that followed the protest.

“Though the organisation in question later retracted the story,
the kind of reprisal attack this could have sparked is better
imagined.

“Also, another reputable broadcast media organisation featured a
report that identified a maintenance worker atop a bank building
overlooking the Lekki tollgate in Lagos as a sniper, leading to
attacks that destroyed many of the bank’s branches.

“The organisations have not even been sanctioned for these
terrible disinformation, yet rabble-rousers have latched on to the
fines to make all sorts of baseless allegations,’’ he said

The NBC fined Channels Television, AIT and Arise TV N3 million
each on Oct. 26 over their unprofessional coverage of the #EndSARS
protest and the crises that followed it.

Acting Director-General of NBC, Prof Armstrong Idachaba,
announced the sanctions at a news conference in Abuja. (NAN)

The Federal Government says the sanctions imposed on some
broadcast media stations in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests
were justified and that the affected stations already paid their
fines.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated
this on Thursday in Abuja at a media briefing on the #EndSARS
protest and its aftermaths.

The minister said that two of the stations paid their fines in
full, while the third paid a part of the fine, with an appeal for
time to pay the balance.

Mohammed stressed that the fines imposed on the stations by the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) were not only justified but
that the NBC was indeed lenient.

“In the aftermath of the EndSARS crisis, NBC fined three
broadcast stations for using unverified and dangerous information
from social media.

“Commentators, many of whom didn’t even know why the NBC imposed
the fine, rushed to allege an attempt to stifle free speech.

“Unknown to them, the stations themselves knew that they
breached the Broadcast Code.

“It is sad to see the traditional media jettisoning the age-long
gate-keeping process and instead rushing to rely on the
free-wheeling social media, devoid of any gatekeeping, for news,’’
he said.

The minister also said it was imperative for the traditional
media to authenticate the information from social media or from any
source, for that matter, before publishing or broadcasting the
same.

He condemned the emerging trend in which traditional media
freely used materials from social media sources without taking the
pains to verify their authenticity.

“This is a dangerous trend that must be curbed, in the interest
of media practitioners themselves, the profession and indeed the
country,’’ he said.

Mohammed said if NBC had wielded the big stick during the
protest, some broadcast media organisations would have faced more
severe sanctions than mere fines.

“Recall that an otherwise reputable broadcast media organisation
had carried a fake report that the Ecumenical Centre in Abuja was
on fire during the violence that followed the protest.

“Though the organisation in question later retracted the story,
the kind of reprisal attack this could have sparked is better
imagined.

“Also, another reputable broadcast media organisation featured a
report that identified a maintenance worker atop a bank building
overlooking the Lekki tollgate in Lagos as a sniper, leading to
attacks that destroyed many of the bank’s branches.

“The organisations have not even been sanctioned for these
terrible disinformation, yet rabble-rousers have latched on to the
fines to make all sorts of baseless allegations,’’ he said

The NBC fined Channels Television, AIT and Arise TV N3 million
each on Oct. 26 over their unprofessional coverage of the #EndSARS
protest and the crises that followed it.

Acting Director-General of NBC, Prof Armstrong Idachaba,
announced the sanctions at a news conference in Abuja. (NAN)