Ofcom raps Geo News for “offensive” material

Geo News been rapped by UK media regulator, Ofcom for broadcasting material, which could have caused offence to younger viewers.

The live bulletin, which was aired at 16:00 in October last year featured a breaking story about the physical and verbal abuse inflicted on a woman in Pakistan, by an alleged police officer in an attempt to gain a confession to theft. The report included footage of the incident obtained from social media. During this time footage of the incident was repeated 32 times in various forms.

Geo TV explained that Geo News is a rolling news and current affairs channel based in Karachi in Pakistan. Its content is broadcast with editorial policy and compliance teams reviewing material ���as it�۪s sent to the output teams�۝. Geo TV said that news item was ���first circulated on social media�۝ on the day of broadcast. The decision was made to broadcast the news story because the ���team felt it was important to report the police abuse suffered by the lady and highlight the abuse of women in Pakistan in generally�۝. Geo TV highlighted that ���as a direct result�۝ of broadcasting the news item the ���perpetrator was arrested�۝.

Geo TV concluded that due to the nature of the channel the ���scheduling of the item was within Rule 1.3�۝ and ���the degree of harm (if any) was limited�۝ by the commentary and the on-screen captions. It added that it had briefed its news teams ���to avoid such stories before the watershed��_and that appropriate warnings are highlighted before the news story is aired�۝ and has provided further training for its team ���to review content in-line with Ofcom�۪s [Broadcasting] Code�۝.

Ofcom was concerned that Geo TV considered the broadcast of this material to be acceptable. Clearly it is essential that a news channel has the editorial freedom to report on examples of police abuse and the abuse of women in general, whether in Pakistan or elsewhere, and be able to do so before the watershed. Ofcom wishes to make clear that as a matter of principle the Code does not prohibit the broadcast of news stories about any subject before the watershed. We were also concerned therefore that the Licensee said that as a result of Ofcom�۪s investigation it has briefed its news teams to ���avoid such stories before the watershed�۝.

Ofcom acknowledge Geo TV has since briefed its news teams on providing appropriate warnings before broadcasting a news story containing challenging material and has provided further training for its staff. Nonetheless, for all the reasons set above, this news item breached Rules 1.3 and 2.3.