Radio Authority Fines Stations

The Radio Authority has decided to impose a fine of £1,000 on Spectrum International Radio, a multi-ethnic station that broadcasts to Greater London. The fine is to punish the station for breaching the 1990 Broadcasting Act and the Authority’s Code.

“Radio Iran Zamin” broadcasts programmes for the Iranian community on Spectrum and the Radio Authority found that in June 1996 it had breached rules relating to undue prominence and prohibited advertising. The breaches are as follows:

• On at least two occasions the programme presenters made partial remarks against the Iranian regime without offering the opportunity for a response. This was a breach to Section 90 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 and the requirements of the Authority’s News and Current Affairs Code. Spectrum was fined £500 and warned against repetition when “Radio Iran Zamin” committed similar offences in 1994.

• An advertisement for a concert and rally was broadcast in breach of Section 92 of the 1990 Broadcasting Act and the Authorities Advertising Code. Both of these rules prohibit advertisements to be broadcast by, or on behalf of, any body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature, and/or directed towards a political end.

The Authority has also passed on translation costs to Spectrum. This brings the total sum payable to £1,727.

The Radio Authority has also decided to impose a fine of £1,000 on Radio XL, a station which broadcasts a service for the Asian community in Birmingham. The fine has been imposed because Radio XL has failed to adhere to parts of its promise of performance. The station has not been providing local, regional and Asian news on the hour every hour on Saturdays and Sundays at the times specified in its promise of performance. Radio XL also failed to provide a programme for the Chinese community.

…The Court of Appeal has upheld the Radio Authority’s decision to prohibit advertising by Amnesty International British Section, AIBS.

Master of the Rolls, Lord Woolf and Lord Justices Aldous and Brooke agreed that the Radio Authority had acted lawfully in deciding that AIBS is a prohibited advertiser under Section 92 of the 1990 Broadcasting Act. The Act states that those bodies “whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature” may not broadcast advertisements on Independent Radio. The Court of Appeal has made it clear that AIBS could renew its application to the Authority in the light of the judgement.

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Radio Authority contact: Tracey Mullins, 0171 405 7058