Samaa TV lands in trouble with Ofcom for “distressing” video in day

Pakistani news broadcaster, Samaa TV has been found in breach of Ofcom regulations after it aired footage of a woman being shot during the day in June 2018.

The show in question ‘Qutab Online’ is a current affairs programme examining societal issues in Pakistan. A viewer complained to Ofcom that this edition of the programme included repeated footage of a young woman being fatally shot, which they described as “extremely shocking” and “distressing and painful to watch”.

In its defence, Samaa TV said that “in light of the growing global movement against harassment and violence suffered by women the issue pertaining to honour killings is being
highlighted in electronic and print media across the globe including Pakistan”.  Samaa therefore aimed “to raise awareness and empower women by highlighting an incident of honour killing”. It added that Qutab Online caters for “a very specific viewership, which is aware of the nature and context of the programme” and would “have a genuine expectation to view content which highlights sensitive topics in Pakistan, which it would not therefore find harmful or offensive”. The Licensee also said that “Samaa TV is not available for viewing on terrestrial television” and “viewership of the channel is limited”, adding that Qutab Online’s audience is very small and “consists of only viewers who are of Pakistani ethnicity or are persons residing in the United Kingdom who understand the Urdu language”.

Samaa TV said it nevertheless accepted that this edition of Qutab Online should not have been aired in the UK because it contained repeated footage of a fatal shooting. It said the programme was broadcast live and, at around the time it started, Samaa’s computer graphics system used during live transmission (“CG”) crashed. It added that “the operator immediately informed the transmission [manager] who arrived in playout within 5
minutes”.

Ofcom took into account the Licensee’s argument on the nature of the programme and its
focus on “sensitive societal issues”. However, we considered the repeated use of CCTV
footage of distressing images of the fatal shooting of a young woman, which amounted to 20 broadcasts during a 45-minute programme, was capable of causing a high level of offence and was likely to have exceeded the expectations of the UK audience for this channel during a weekday afternoon.

The regulator was also concerned that no warning about the material was given to viewers prior to its broadcast and no apology was subsequently aired, despite the fact that the Licensee was aware it had attempted unsuccessfully to mask all the images in question. Ofcom considered the material had the potential to be very distressing for viewers who came across it unawares at this time.

Ofcom expressed concern over a similar incident, which was five years ago and the repeated broadcast of such material in the UK in this instance was due to a technical issue. Nevertheless, Ofcom considers the broadcast of a fatal shooting that is not justified by the context to be capable of causing viewers serious offence and/or distress.