THE BROADCASTING Authority yesterday revealed it was looking into several potential infringements of the law governing the broadcast of opinion poll results by television stations.
The issue of polls has grown in prominence with the presidential election campaign entering its final fortnight; dozens of surveys are published every week.
Broadcasting Authority Director Neophytos Epaminondas told state radio yesterday that the authority was looking into more than one possible violations of the law on survey broadcasting.
The potential violations concerned stations’ alleged failure to submit vital data on the survey to the Broadcasting Authority before the results were aired.
The information channels have to submit to the Broadcasting Authority includes the methodology and identity of the survey as well as the size of the sample.
Epaminondas said there was an ongoing investigation into a number of cases where it appeared the necessary information had not been submitted.
But all the facts had to be examined before an official report could be drawn up, in order to ensure the case could not be disputed at the Supreme Court, Epaminondas said.
He did not disclose the exact number of cases, adding that they concerned more than one station.
Epaminondas stressed, however, that the Broadcasting Authority was not there to dispute the results of a survey — even if the necessary information had not been submitted.
“If we have a specific complaint that the results of a particular survey have been altered, that is a different issue,” he said.
The broadcasting chief added: “The essence is that from the moment a station broadcasts an opinion poll, its data should have been submitted to the authority first.”
Deputy Attorney-general Petros Clerides said the state’s legal services had received no complaints about opinion polls.
But he warned that channels had to make sure they complied with the law before airing the results of a poll.
Clerides said it looked like the Broadcasting Authority had evidence that several infringements had taken place and that he expected the results of the investigations to be forwarded to him.
“Where there is a violation, the legal service has no choice but to prosecute,” Clerides said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
