The National Broadcasting Commission, known as NBC, has warned broadcast presenters to uphold professional standards, cautioning that those who pass off personal opinions as facts or intimidate guests on air risk facing sanctions.
The NBC cautions came after popular Channels TV presenter, Bukola Samuel-Wemimo apparently ‘bullied’ a guest on live programme of the Morning Brief segment a day ago.
In one part of the interview, Bukola threw a question at her guest, one @Legendary_Joe, but before the guest could give a reply, she asked another and went on to ask another. At some point, the guest calmly confronted her to give him a breather so he could answer her question as she even went on to repeat the same thing over again.
The commission said in a statement released and obtained by ENigeria Newspaper on Friday that it had seen an increase in violations of the sixth edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code in news, current affairs, and political programs.
“The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has identified a sustained increase in breaches of the 6th Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code across News, Current Affairs, and Political Programmes,” the statement reads.
“Broadcast platforms are increasingly being deployed in ways that depart from their core obligation to inform the public with accuracy, balance, and professionalism”, the statement added.
The NBC said that some presenters have broken ethical standards by not giving opposing views a fair hearing and not staying neutral during discussions.
“Henceforth, any anchor or presenter found to have expressed personal opinion as fact, bullied or intimidated a guest, denied fair hearing to opposing views, or otherwise compromised neutrality, shall be deemed to have committed a Class B breach,” the commission stated.
ENigeria Newspaper also gathered that the regulator also said it was worried about political actors using broadcast platforms to spread false and divisive information. It stressed that broadcasters are still fully responsible for everything that is shown on their platforms, even live shows.
The NBC said it would strictly enforce the code and warned that violations like hate speech, incitement, and lack of balance would lead to penalties. The commission also told media companies to put professionalism, fairness, and accuracy first, especially as the country gets closer to a sensitive election period. They warned that the airwaves should not be used to spread false information.
In recent times, there have been reports of journalists, presenters and broadcaster display a high level of emotions while interviewing guests on their shows.
