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

The post Stop showing porn – NMC orders TV XYZ, others appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The two, on Monday, 12th June, 2017, presented their complaint to the National Media Commission and the Ministry of Information against TV XYZ, Ice TV and Thunder TV, for showing these films to their audience.

According to them, it is against the broadcasting standards for television stations to show porn materials irrespective of what time they are shown.

“We have realized that these TV stations are showing things that are against the media commission’s standards and as concerned citizens, we thought it wise to make a complaint to the right authorities, to prompt them to take the necessary actions,” James told Citifmonline.com.

They presented to the Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission, George Sarpong, an album of compiled photos taken from porn scenes shown across the television stations in question.

Presenting the complaint, Tommy Annan-Forson said: “these things have been going on for quite a while. It started on social media and people started asking questions as to why some television stations would show porn. Some years ago, Cable Gold was doing same, I captured it, reported to the media commission and they stopped them.”

Tommy Annan-Forson

In his response, Mr. George Sarpong congratulated James and Tommy for taking such a bold step in the interest of Ghana and assured them of their support.

“I want to thank you for the effort that you put into this and I hope that we will get back to you. In fact, this gesture shows there is a lot of hope for the media landscape,” he stated.

After that, they also sent a copy of the complaint to the Minister of Information, Mustapha Hamid, who also lauded their move.

Mustapha Hamid & James Oberko

Messrs Oberko and Annan-Forson told Citifmonline.com that they would later serve the National Communications Authority, the Chief Justice and Speaker of Parliament copies of their complaints.

Tommy Annan Forson is a doyen of broadcasting with over 40 years experience. He has through his radio school, RABODEF, trained a lot of successful broadcasters in Ghana.

James Oberko is also broadcaster of more than 10 years experience, who is currently an administrator at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Broadcasters petition NMC over ‘Porn-showing’ TV stations appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.