CASE NUMBER: 19/2009 – ENSTROM VS MULTICHOICE – TRAVEL CHANNEL – BONA FIDE DOCUMENTARY

Complaint was received against DSTV –Travel Channel by the Complainant who was deeply disturbed by a scene on television where it was shown how a guinea pig’s throat is slit in preparation for a meal.  The Complainant did not think that the scene was fit for viewing by anyone. The travel programme was about the lifestyle of Chinese people in Peru and the programme is in the nature of a documentary.  Bona fide documentary programmes are, in terms of clause 11 of “The BCCSA’s Code of Conduct for Subscription Broadcasting Service Licensees”, exempted from the provisions of clauses 9 and 10 of the Code that relate, inter alia, to violence.  Viewers tuned into documentary programmes of this nature should accept that they run a certain degree of risk that they will be seeing customs of other cultures, like the slaughtering of animals, that might shock or offend.  Broadcasters have the duty to inform their subscribers (in the case of subscription television) of the nature of the programmes they are about to see, but viewers should also ensure that they are informed of the nature of such programmes and to protect themselves and their children from material which they consider to be harmful or offensive.  No contravention of the Code could be found and the complaint was not upheld.