The National Media Commission (NMC) has ordered the three local television stations alleged to be broadcasting pornographic materials to immediately cease such broadcasts.
The stations, Ice TV, Thunder TV and TV XYZ were reported to the Commission and the Information Ministry by two broadcasters James Oberko and Tommy Annan Forson for airing pornographic movies on free-to-air television.
[contextly_sidebar id=”4M3VGWSud1d03PYOhYLc3qhKfM5enCcx”] The complainants were asking the National Media Commission to intervene to stop that act which they said was inappropriate.
The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Kwasi Gyan Apenteng, in a statement sighted by citifmonline.com said it has settled the complaints and has since directed the indicted stations to cease airing the pornographic materials.
“The National Media Commission has directed television stations XYZ TV, Thunder TV and Ice TV to cease forthwith the airing of pornographic materials on their television stations. The directive follows a complaint filed by Mr. James Oberko and Mr. Tommy Annan Forson against the stations,” the statement added.
The statement further noted that, “the Commission examined the broadcast of the three stations and concluded that the content complained about did not meet the standards of decency required by the Broadcasting Standards of the Commission.”
It added that the NMC found that the stations air materials that show “actual sexual intercourse between humans,” a development that flouts the NMC broadcasting guidelines.
“Section 7 (e) of the NMC Broadcasting Guidelines provides that “Actual sexual intercourse between humans should at no time be transmitted.”
The Commission said this provision does not admit of any “exceptions.”
Following the complaint, some of the indicted channels called the bluff of the complainants and the regulatory body, claiming their actions were within the remit of the law and were not ready to back down.
But according to the NMC’s statement, the three stations have apologized for their actions and have committed themselves to ceasing broadcast of pornographic movies.
“At the settlement meeting, the three stations apologised and committed themselves to ensuring that there would be no more pornography on their stations. They, however, drew the attention of the Commission to other radio and television stations which they considered to be carrying similarly offensive content. The Commission has cautioned broadcasting stations and other electronic communications networks to be particularly mindful of the implications of carrying any content which offends public sensibilities.”
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana