The mistake occurred on June 23, 2023, during the evening edition of “Fakty”, hosted by Diana Rudnik. When the journalist was reading the announcement of the material about the Titan’s implosion, her statement was suddenly interrupted by an advertising spot of the Lidl chain. However, the program was quickly resumed.
This is the first such blunder in the history of “Fakty”. The sender immediately explained himself
After less than a minute, the TVN news program resumed broadcasting. The host of the program immediately apologized for the mistake. – A small explanation for you: during the presentation of the initial announcement of the material about the implosion, there was a small technical error, for which we apologize – said Diana Rudnik. Then she moved on to the next topics of the news program.
This was explained in similar words by the broadcaster itself in explanations provided to the National Broadcasting Council in July. He wrote that “an advertising block was accidentally triggered by the broadcast operator, which resulted in the erroneous broadcasting of the board starting the advertising block and a fragment of the advertising spot.”
He emphasized that this was the first such case in the history of “Fakty”, and immediately afterwards the company took “all necessary actions to clarify the situation and prevent such events from occurring in the future”. Moreover, TVN emphasized that it did not receive any money for the erroneous broadcast of the spots.
However, Chairman Maciej Świrski remained deaf to these explanations and decided to punish the station
The National Broadcasting Council’s announcement stated that “during the proceedings, it was established that during the broadcast of the ‘Fakty’ program on June 23, 2023, there was a violation of Article 16a(6)(1) of the Broadcasting Act.” It was recalled that in accordance with Art. 16a section 6 point 1 of the Act, news broadcasts cannot be interrupted to broadcast advertising or teleshopping.
“This absolute prohibition is one of the basic principles of advertising law and is intended to protect the viewer against excessive exposure of commercial messages. It is intended to ensure a balance between the needs of broadcasters, the interests of advertisers and the good of the viewer and his right to undisturbed reception of the categories of programs specified by the legislator,” we read in the letter of the National Broadcasting Council.
The announcement noted that “when determining the amount of the fine, the Authority was guided by the premises specified in Article 53(1) of the Act, i.e. the scope and degree of harmfulness of the infringement, the Sender’s previous activities and its financial capabilities.”
“Taking into account the above and the Broadcaster’s annual revenues and the current price list of the TVN Media advertising office, where the cost of a 30-second advertisement after the broadcast of ‘Fakty’ is up to PLN 86,500 net, the Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council imposed a fine of PLN 80,000. Issuing a decision on punishment in the event of such a violation is obligatory under law,” it was informed.
“The chairman wants to demonstrate the severity of the punishment against this particular broadcaster.”
According to , TVN has not commented on the decision of chairman Maciej Świrski so far. The sender may appeal against this decision to the District Court in Warsaw. Moreover, it is unofficially said that the station will decide to take this step.
The opposition member of the Council, prof., also commented on the situation on the website. Tadeusz Kowalski, who is also a researcher at the Faculty of Journalism, Information and Bibliology at the University of Warsaw. He directly stated that the chairman’s punishment looked like malicious harassment of TVN.
This situation should not have happened and the sender in his explanation convincingly and reliably indicated the reasons for it. It was a technical error, which is a human error, after all, media is created by people. There should always be some margin of understanding. The chairman wants to demonstrate the severity of the punishment against this particular broadcaster, and in my opinion, a call to desist would be enough. The chairman’s punishment looks like malicious harassment of TVN. It reminds me of the saying: you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but you don’t see the beam in your own eye – said Prof. Tadeusz Kowalski.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
