MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - British communications regulator Ofcom has ruled that Sky News' controversial coverage from the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash site by journalist Colin Brazier is in violation of its Rule 2.3, which requires broadcasters to justify the context of potentially offensive material, the Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin reported Monday.
"Mr. Brazier handled two items belonging to a victim of the crash very briefly, and he appeared to almost immediately regret his actions and expressed this to viewers," the regulator's bulletin stated.
"Nonetheless in Ofcom's view these actions were capable of causing considerable offense and this was not mitigated by an immediate broadcast apology. On balance we therefore considered that the offense was not justified by the context and Rule 2.3 was breached," Ofcom wrote in its resolution regarding the incident.
Although Ofcom recognizes that Brazier was reporting from an "unusual and emotionally charged situation," the journalist failed to exercise sensitivity during the report.
Sky News journalist Colin Brazier reported from the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine on July 20, three days after the tragedy which killed 298 people. During the report, Brazier crouched down and handled items from a victim's open suitcase, but quickly stated, "We shouldn't really be doing this, I suppose really."
The news agency and reporter issued a formal apology hours after the live broadcast which received 205 complaints from viewers.
Ofcom concluded its review of the incident by stating Brazier's mistake "should not prevent broadcast journalists from reporting live on sensitive and challenging news stories." The regulator officially considers the matter resolved.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk on July 17. The reasons behind the tragedy are still unclear.
