PEMRA tells ARY to air apology for 'irresponsible remarks' about Allah

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 19 October 2017

PEMRA has instructed ARY News to issue an apology for comments made by host Arif Hameed Bhatti regarding Allah. The remarks aired on September 7 breached the Electronic Media Code of Conduct.

Summary

ISLAMABAD – Electronic media regulator PEMRA Thursday directed ARY News to air an apology for broadcasting irresponsible remarks associating an individual with Allah Almighty.

A PEMRA media release said the objectionable comment made by Arif Hameed Bhatti was aired in the program The Reporters on September 7.

The regulator later issued a show-cause notice to ARY and asked the management to explain its position.

After hearing the representative of the channel, analyzing the written reply and reviewing the objectionable clip, it was found that the channel had violated several clauses of the Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015.

PEMRA has also directed ARY to appoint an in-house committee to monitor the content and to provide its details within 15 days. The channel was also told to utilize its time-delay mechanism properly.

KEY POINTS:

• PEMRA directed ARY News to air an apology.
• The objectionable remarks were made in The Reporters program.
• ARY violated the Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015.
• An in-house committee must be appointed by ARY.
• ARY is required to improve its time-delay mechanism.