Broadcasters continue serious breaches everyday – GNBA

Within the first three months of 2018, the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) has announced that there has been a continuous flow of serious breaches to the Broadcasting Act 2011 and its 2017 Amendment on a daily basis. This deduction was made after observations by its Monitoring and Compliance Department.
According to the GNBA, these breaches fall under the categories of the potential to mislead, promote negative behaviours and offend public sensibilities. Sensational content highlighting, close-up video footages of undignified images, prime-time programmes, violence and crime, offensive languages, nudity and indecent languages fall under some of these breaches. Additionally, the Authority has also observed inaccuracies in the presentation of political or industrial behaviours, interpretation of current public policy and the use of personal views as if they were facts are also some other concerning factors which have been raised.
Within a one month period, the Monitoring and Compliance department recorded a total of 27 grave infractions on an average. With this in mind, the GNBA has reiterated to the broadcasters that such violations have significant implications and can lead to severe penalties. Therefore, the Authority is reminding them to be aware of situations where breaches of the amendment many arise and to avoid these breaches at all cost.
This can be done by screening the music and movie contents before airing. Immediate actions can also be taken during live programmes to correct, caution and disconnect callers who are abusive or who spew misinformation. Lastly, a caller’s identification should be displayed along with the introduction of a delayed broadcasting mechanism so that the information received can be edited before screening.
The GNBA has issued this statement so that it can continue to exercise its core mandate to regulate, supervise and develop the broadcasting sector. Broadcasters are also asked to follow these reminders to avoid breaching the Act and Amendment.