e.tv slapped with R35 000 fine for Gaddafi footage

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA (BCCSA) received complaints in October, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday.

e.tv news and the eNews Channel showed the footage without providing an advisory warning its viewers about the violence. The complainant said there had been images of Gaddafi in newspapers and on television after his death.

"But I was utterly outraged this morning when at 7.30am and every time e.tv news channel 403 ran its headlines. They showed the moments before Gaddafi's death, where he was surrounded by lots of men and was clearly being beaten and dragged," the complainant wrote.

"The images were shown with no prior warning to viewers and repeatedly until at least 12 noon."

The images were found to be in conflict with the broadcasting code. The news channel also failed to advise viewers of violent scenes during its broadcasts on October 20, 22 and 23, according to the BCCSA judgment.

e.tv was ordered to broadcast the following statement at 7pm on the eNews Channel on a Thursday before the end of February: "The Broadcasting Complaints Commission has held that this news service had during the seven o'clock Thursday evening news, on 20 October 2011, contravened the Broadcasting Code in broadcasting unnecessary detail of the attack on Colonel Gaddafi."

e.tv was fined R5000 for contraventions amounting to R35 000 and must pay the fine by February 28.

Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge