NIT channel scores victory

The Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) was Friday less tough on the private TV channel NIT. The Council rejected the Liberal-Democrat lawmaker Ion Butmalai’s application concerning the harming of his honor and dignity by the channel in a report and non-giving of the right to reply. It recommended that the MP should ask again NIT to give him the right to reply. If the channel refuses, he may sue it, Info-Prim Neo reports. Ion Butmalai complained that in a March 11 report the channel violated the deontological and moral norms that should be respected by a company that covers public life. He said that NIT groundlessly presented him as the leader and organizer of criminal groups. When he asked for the right to reply, he met with a refusal. The members of the Council ruled that the report broadcast by NIT meets the Broadcasting Code, being a professional one. BCC member Corneliu Mihalache said that images showing Ion Butmalai in the company of representatives of the criminal underworld were shown by a number of media outlets in 2009, but he did not attempt to challenge them or to accuse the organizations of incorrectness. Another member Gheorghe Gorincioi said the Council cannot demand that the broadcasters present the materials in the form of replies. “If the MP considers that his honor and dignity were harmed, he can sue the TV channel,” he stated. The representatives of NIT attending the meeting said they did not allow the Liberal-Democrat MP to reply as they had a clear motivation. The channel later broadcast Ion Butmalai’s speech in Parliament, where he expresses his indignation at the NIT’s report. The channel’s representatives said that this way they gave him the right to reply. Earlier, the BCC penalized several times NIT for the absence of a plurality of opinions in its programs. NIT appealed the Council’s decisions to court. The cases are examined by the Court of Appeals.