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The following is issued on behalf of the Broadcasting Authority:
This press release summarises the outcome of the Broadcasting Authority (BA)'s deliberations in November 2011:
At its meeting in November 2011, the BA considered three complaint cases about non-compliance by Asia Television Limited (ATV) with the relevant codes of practice on programme and advertising standards ¡ª
(a) complaints against the misreporting of news on the death of former national leader Mr Jiang Zemin broadcast on the Home and World Channels of ATV on July 6 and 7, 2011. Having considered the information collected at the interviews and all other available evidence and submissions, the BA has found the complaints against inaccurate news reporting and late correction of factual errors substantiated. The BA regrets that ATV has adopted an irresponsible approach in its response to the BA¡¯s inquiry. The BA decided that a financial penalty of $300,000 should be imposed on ATV;
(b) complaints against the television programme "Wealth Blog" broadcast on the Home Channel of ATV on July 19 and 21, 2011. The BA decided that ATV should be seriously warned to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the TV Programme Code; and
(c) complaints against the advertising magazine "Corporate Excellence" broadcast on the Home Channel of ATV on May 29, 2011 and August 21, 2011. The BA decided that ATV should be warned to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the Generic Code of Practice on Television Advertising Standards (TV Advertising Code).
The BA¡¯s Investigation Report on the first case is in Appendix 1. Further details of the other two cases are available in Appendix 2.
The BA noted that in October 2011, the Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing (CTEL) dealt with 184 cases (270 complaints) under its delegated authority, of which 5 cases (5 complaints) were classified as minor breaches and 113 cases (178 complaints), unsubstantiated. The remaining 66 cases (87 complaints) were found to be outside the ambit of the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance. The monthly figures of complaints dealt with by CTEL from October 2010 to October 2011 are shown in Figure 1. A chart showing the nature of the unsubstantiated complaints classified by CTEL in October 2011 is in Figure 2. A chart showing the nature of complaints classified as minor breaches is in Figure 3.
Ends/Monday, December 5, 2011
Issued at HKT 10:31
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