“Media Azi” Broadcast, 24th edition: The impact of BCC sanctions is nullified by permissive legislation

The topic discussed in the current edition of the “Media Azi” show referred to the impact of sanctions issued by the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) to the broadcasters that violated legislation in the current election campaign.

Journalist Dumitru Lazur as moderator discussed about it with his guest Nicolae Damaschin, deputy chairman of the BCC.

As this year’s election campaign showed, the televisions that the BCC sanctioned with public warning and maximum fine of 5,400 lei continued committing the same violations after the penalty. How functional is the BCC’s sanctioning mechanism, given that their efforts fail to have proper impact?

According to Nicolae Damaschin, the current Broadcasting Code is to blame, since it does not allow sanctioning broadcasters depending on the seriousness of their violations. With the maximum fine of 5,400 lei, while 1 minute of advertising on TV can cost even more than 3,000 Euros, it is difficult to stay in compliance with the law, he believes.

It should be mentioned that the draft new code provides for fines starting with 30 thousand lei to 150 thousand, and it could contribute much more to the responsibility of broadcasters, but its examination in the second reading has been delayed by the parliament.

For now, “we have a permissive law, irresponsible broadcasters and, for this reason, the public is to suffer,” the protagonists of the show conclude.