The federal government has penalize some major broadcasting stations for their coverage of the end Sars protest.
They are Arise News, African Independent Television (AIT) and Channels Television and they have been fined around N3 million.
The organizations were also accused of using unverified social media photos and videos of protest.

On Monday, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) suggested that media houses played a role in escalating violence in Nigeria.
NBC expressed concern over its alleged “professional misdeeds”.
Broadcast media monitors noted that the media, particularly the broadcast arm, discharged their role professionally in facing the challenge of the COVID-19 crisis, regretting that the coverage of the recently concluded SARS campaign was also Can not be said.
NBC said its reports indicated that the broadcast industry in the early stages of the conflict largely gave fair and balanced coverage of the issues.
“This trend completely reversed when violence, mass destruction and looting were added to the dimensions. Perhaps there is an eagerness to break the news and speed up the stations engaged in a very unprofessional approach to speculative and irreversible broadcasting. “
NBC stated that they violated the Code’s broadcast provisions, including 5.6.1.
It states as follow: “In contemporary times, the influence of modern technology has enabled citizenship to contribute to journalism, which is beneficial for broadcasting. In this style of citizen reporting, features such as user-generated content (UGC) provide instant eyewitness accounts of events. Such technical benefits call for further demands on broadcasters to be more vigilant with their editorial responsibility. “
Code 5.6.2 was also cited in the statement: “News materials sent by the public must be compiled by a broadcaster who has editorial responsibility; And 5.6.3: The broadcaster will be aware of materials that may embarrass individuals or organizations or cause panic or rift in society with the use of UGC.

“We believe that the whole country has now seen why nervousness and carelessness on social media should not be patronized by mainstream traditional media. So the dogs who have been raised on social media by broadcasters have to bow their heads in shame.
NBC said that the three stations, “AIT, continued to broadcast footage exclusively sourced from unverified and random social media sources. There is no doubt that these pictures aroused anger and heightened the violence seen during the crisis.
“The Commission wants to condemn the total opportunities for beating and intimidation with media houses. Burning of TVC Lagos, the concluding finale of Channel TV Lagos are all worrying indicators of congestion for freedom of the press. No nation can develop when citizens muzzle and intimidate their presses. “
NBC advised broadcasters to always ensure that when they use UGC and social media sources, they should ensure their veracity and authenticity.