MATV rapped by Ofcom over impartiality rules

MATV has been rapped by Ofcom over impartiality.

The show ‘Pakistan Reporter’ aired on 8th February 2021, was placed under the scanner due to a complaint by a viewer. It was accused of being biased against Pakistan and its government.

The broadcaster said that the programme is received pre-recorded from India and Pakistan and “in the last nine years we have been investigated several times for similar programmes”. It stated the programme is broadcast two or three times a week and “in these last nine years we must have shown not less than 1,000 episodes…of realistic journalism”.

The Licensee also said that whilst MATV is a UK based channel, it has Indian owners and therefore it believed the complaint had been made by Pakistani people “just out of hatred”. Finally, it said that “the content is not imaginary” and “as the code says…we must balance our views… which we do all the time” however, it considered “it is not possible not to criticize Government when there are clear cases of wrong doings.”

Ofcom found the broadcaster in breach of Rule 5.5.