Nigeria bans TV for reporting crash
Televisionpoint.com Team
Authorities in Nigeria have banned the private television station whose reporters were the first to find the site where an airliner crashed killing all 117 on board, the National Broadcasting Commission announced on Monday.
Reporters from Lagosbased African Independent Television (AIT) were the first to reveal on Sunday that the Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 had come down a short distance outside Lagos in the village of Lissa, a cocoa growing area near President Olusegun Obasanjo's farm in Otta.
Earlier, several Nigerian officials had incorrectly told journalists that the crash site was in Kishi, a remote rural area 400 kilometres (245 miles) further north. AIT's report allowed many reporters travelling to the scene to alter course and head for the true location.
Despite this, a statement from the National Broadcasting Commission accused Nigerian outlets in general of causing 'confusion' in the international media through their reporting. The statement also said that AIT, in particular, had been guilty of a breach in reporting standards in its depiction of dismembered bodies at the crash site in a filmed report and in confirming that no-one had survived before receiving an official statement to that effect. A Daar executive said the station stood by its report and would be appealing the ban, but would abide by the commission's decision until the dispute was resolved.
Authorities in Nigeria have banned the private television station whose reporters were the first to find the site where an airliner crashed killing all 117 on board, the National Broadcasting Commission announced on Monday.
Reporters from Lagosbased African Independent Television (AIT) were the first to reveal on Sunday that the Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 had come down a short distance outside Lagos in the village of Lissa, a cocoa growing area near President Olusegun Obasanjo's farm in Otta.
Earlier, several Nigerian officials had incorrectly told journalists that the crash site was in Kishi, a remote rural area 400 kilometres (245 miles) further north. AIT's report allowed many reporters travelling to the scene to alter course and head for the true location.
Despite this, a statement from the National Broadcasting Commission accused Nigerian outlets in general of causing 'confusion' in the international media through their reporting. The statement also said that AIT, in particular, had been guilty of a breach in reporting standards in its depiction of dismembered bodies at the crash site in a filmed report and in confirming that no-one had survived before receiving an official statement to that effect. A Daar executive said the station stood by its report and would be appealing the ban, but would abide by the commission's decision until the dispute was resolved.
Copyright 2005 - 2009 Televisionpoint.com. All rights reserved. A Bhash Media Private Limited Company.
This site is best viewed in Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher versions, at a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.