Civil society organisation have expressed mixed reactions following the fine on Arise TV by National Broadcasting Commission. The TVstation was fined for airing fake reports about presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Arise TV was fined N2m for breaking the broadcasting code.
The Executive Director of Transition Monitoring Group, Auwal Rafsanjani has reacted to the news. He urged media houses to verify news before throwing it out to the public.
He faulted NBC for fining the TV station despite apologies from them.
“It is important that we try as much as possible to verify the information before it is sent out. However, the idea of trial by all means to sanction to media station over a report that did not emanate from it is not balanced and not also fair, especially when the media had openly come out to openly apologise.
“I think the NBC is just trying to show that it is working but that is not the only way to show that you’re actually working. If the media had denied or refuse to apologise, that is a different thing.
“The apology should have been taken in good faith. We don’t need to monetise or commercialise every aspect of our life.” He said
