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Majid Tavakoli2355 GMT: Media Watch. Press TV, the English-language Iranian media outlet operating out of the UK has been fined £100,000 by OfCom, the British communications regulatory body, for "breaches of the Broadcasting Code" and ordered to broadcast a statement of Ofcom's findings on its service.
Press TV appears to have complied with the broadcasting of the OfCom finding by posting an article on its site claiming that OfCom has contradicted itself:
The regulator announced that Press TV is required to pay a 100,000-pound fine and “broadcast a statement of Ofcom's findings on its service Press TV.”
This is while Ofcom had previously stated that it would not direct Press TV to broadcast a summary of its findings, requiring the English-language channel to only pay the fine. The summary is as follows:
“Ofcom found that Press TV presentation of the interview of Mr. [Maziar] Bahari in the news item was unfair because it missed out important facts, for example that the interview was conducted under duress whilst Mr. Bahari was being held in a prison in Tehran.”
“Also the interview was broadcast in a context in which inferences adverse to Mr. Bahari could be drawn. Press TV did not obtain Mr. Bahari consent to the interview.”
“Ofcom also found that the filming and broadcast of the interview without Mr. Bahari's consent while he was in a sensitive vulnerable situation was an unwarranted infringement of his privacy.
“As a result Ofcom has fined Press TV 100,000 pounds and directed it to broadcast this summary.”