Complaints were received in regard to the programme “The world according to Bush” – broadcast on Special Assignment on Tuesday, 7th September 2004.  One of the people interviewed in this Documentary made the following comment – “Muhammad was a terrorist…..”   The Tribunal agrees that judged out of context the words used concerning the Prophet are [...]

Complaints were received about a simulated sex scene in a programme which is directed at embarrassing interviewees involved. This then draws a laugh – at least among some viewers and some interviewees. The Tribunal held that it has understanding for the views expressed by the complainants. It also found the simulated sex scene offensive. However, [...]

Complaints were received about graphic scenes in a news item of the body of a woman found in the boot of a car. The visuals accompanying the news item showed close visuals of the feet and legs of the dead woman and the visuals ended with the showing of an investigator callously throwing his gloves [...]

A complaint was received that the Respondent had not broadcast in its news that the Scorpions, a special division of the South African Police Services, was investigating an allegation that the Deputy  President might have been involved in a corrupt dealing in the so-called Arms Deal. This had been reported in a newspaper at the [...]

A news programme dealt with the plight of less privileged lesbians in a city – in this case, Durban, South Africa. A complaint was received from a local Gay and Lesbian Society that the programme had not given a balanced picture of the homophobia that exists in under-developed areas. The complaint was that the programme [...]

The question that arose in this matter is whether the taking in vain of the Lord’s Name, which is regarded as offensive as such to a large number of Christians, amounts to a contravention of the Broadcasting Code.                        In the case of a drama or documentary the answer is that unless particularly aggravating circumstances are [...]

The Respondent broadcast as part of a sitcom series, “My Family”, the circumstances in which the family finds itself when the mother is chosen to only play the role of a shepherd (whilst she hoped for the role of Mary) in the town’s annual nativity play and the son, who can only be described as [...]

Broadcaster showing visuals in news bulletins depicting the name of only one butchery. Broadcaster utilising edited footage in news reports of several other butcheries without distinguishing such images from those of the Complainant’s, thus creating the false impression that all the images on the footage emanates from Complainant’s establishment.  Held that news report amounts to [...]

The reporting during news broadcasts on an alleged racial incident at a school that occurred between a white female teenager and her mother, and a black female 16 year old, led to wide media coverage. Several complaints were received from viewers of the Respondent TV station, which is also the Public Broadcaster in terms of [...]

Complainant alleged that several TV and radio news bulletins had contained errors and were not balanced insofar as they dealt with complaints by truck drivers that the Complainant had repossessed their transport vehicles without authority to do so. The bulletins also cast suspicion on the actions of the Complainant in regard to the trucks, which [...]