Dated: 3 June 2002
UnionWorks' Mandarin radio station has been fined by the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) for breaching the Radio Programme Code by adding personal comments to several news bulletins aired over a period of one and a half months.
During the period from 14 March 2002 to 29 April 2002, news bulletins on UFM's evening drivetime programme, None of My Business, had injections of personal remarks and observations by the newsreader, which were unwarranted in normal news bulletins.
The newsreader added comments in various reports, including the US threat to deploy nuclear weapons, oil price hikes, the Japanese PM's visit to a Japanese war shrine, priests who commit sexual offences, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Chinese Vice Premier's visit to the US.
Adding personal comments to News breaches the Authority's Radio Programme Standards and Censorship Code which requires factual programmes such as news to be presented in an objective, accurate and balanced manner.
UFM had, on three previous occasions, been cautioned by SBA against injecting personal remarks in news bulletins. As the advice went unheeded, and the offence is a major one under the Code, SBA has fined UnionWorks S$15,000.
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