Section 1: The 91福利社's Editorial Standards
1.1 Introduction
The 91福利社's Editorial Guidelines embody the wisdom of more than 100 years of programme making, content production and journalism. They are designed to support creativity and to help content makers weigh up risks and make difficult editorial decisions. The 91福利社 needs the trust of its audience 鈥� and maintains that trust by the strength of its editorial decision making. The Guidelines set the editorial standards for all 91福利社 content and also satisfy the requirements of the 91福利社's regulator Ofcom.
The 91福利社's Royal Charter[1] specifies the 91福利社's Mission, which is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain. The Royal Charter also establishes the 91福利社's independence from government, guarantees its editorial and creative freedom and safeguards the licence fee.
The Charter sets out the 91福利社's Public Purposes:
- To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.
- To support learning for people of all ages.
- To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services.
- To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom鈥檚 nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom.
- To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world.
The Royal Charter and the accompanying Framework Agreement[2] establish that it is a duty of the 91福利社 Board to set the standards for the 91福利社's editorial and creative output and services. The 91福利社 must publish, review periodically and ensure the observance of guidelines designed to secure appropriate editorial standards for its UK Public Services. It must also safeguard and maintain the editorial integrity and high quality of the 91福利社 World Service and 91福利社 Monitoring.
Producing and upholding these Editorial Guidelines fulfils those requirements. They apply to all content broadcast or published by the 91福利社 whoever creates it and however and wherever in the world it is made or received. The Director-General, as the 91福利社's editor-in-chief, is ultimately responsible for its editorial content, but everybody involved in making content for the 91福利社 must work to the standards set out in these Editorial Guidelines. All output made in accordance with these Editorial Guidelines will also meet the requirements of the 91福利社's regulator, Ofcom.[3]
The Editorial Guidelines set out the 91福利社's regulatory and ethical obligations, which often go further than the law. There will be occasions when content is judged legally safe to publish or broadcast, but still raises regulatory or reputational risks for the 91福利社. In these circumstances the 91福利社 seeks to behave ethically. While lawyers and the Editorial Guidelines provide advice, editorial responsibility and the final decision whether to publish or broadcast content remains with the editorial management of the 91福利社.
Mandatory Referral: In exceptional circumstances, there may be a proposal or action that would seem inconsistent with the Editorial Guidelines. This must have very strong justification and must be discussed and agreed with the Divisional Director. Director Editorial Policy and Standards must also be consulted.
Deliberate breaches without referral or negligent breaches of the Guidelines of a serious nature may result in disciplinary action.
1.2 The 91福利社's Editorial Values
Audiences trust the 91福利社 and they expect it to adhere to the highest editorial standards.
The 91福利社 has a right to freedom of expression under human rights legislation, which is reflected in the Charter. This freedom is at the heart of the 91福利社's independence. Its audiences have a right to receive creative material, information and ideas without interference. But audiences also expect the 91福利社 to balance its right to freedom of expression with its responsibilities to audiences and to contributors.
The 91福利社 operates in the public interest 鈥� reporting stories of significance to audiences and holding power to account. In its journalism in particular, the 91福利社 seeks to establish the truth and use the highest reporting standards to provide coverage that is fair and accurate. The 91福利社's specialist expertise provides professional judgement and clear analysis.
The 91福利社 is impartial, seeking to reflect the views and experiences of audiences, so that its output as a whole includes a breadth and diversity of opinion, and no significant strand of thought is under-represented or omitted. The 91福利社 is independent of outside interests and arrangements that could compromise its editorial integrity. However, its editorial standards do not require absolute neutrality on every issue or detachment from fundamental democratic principles.
Freedom of expression enables the exchange of information and ideas without state interference. It helps to inform public debate 鈥� encouraging curiosity, criticism and engagement. It allows, for example, dramatists, satirists and comedians to comment on the world around them. However, freedom of expression is not an absolute right 鈥� it carries duties and responsibilities and is also subject to legal restrictions and limits.
In exercising freedom of expression, appropriate protection must be offered to vulnerable groups and the 91福利社 must avoid causing unjustifiable offence. People's privacy must be respected; private information should normally only be put into the public domain where the public interest outweighs an individual's legitimate expectation of privacy.
The 91福利社 has a particular responsibility towards children and young people and must preserve their right to speak out and be heard. Where they contribute to or feature in 91福利社 output, due care must be taken to ensure that their dignity and their physical and emotional welfare are protected.
Children have a right to access information and ideas; however, the 91福利社 must ensure that content that might be unsuitable for them is scheduled appropriately.
1.3 The Public Interest
The 91福利社's Mission[4] specifies that it must 'act in the public interest'. It is in the public interest that the 91福利社 should fulfil its mission to provide output to inform, educate and entertain. There is no single definition of public interest; it covers a wide range of values and principles relating to what is in the best interests of society, and it includes:
- freedom of expression
- providing information that assists people to better comprehend, or make decisions on, matters of public importance
- preventing people being misled by the statements or actions of individuals or organisations
- exposing or detecting crime or significantly anti-social behaviour
- exposing corruption, injustice, significant incompetence or negligence.
1.4 Editorial Justification
The concept of editorial justification recurs throughout the Editorial Guidelines and is central to the application of the 91福利社's values and standards.
Editorial justification is the judgement that the benefit from any editorial decision or content outweighs any negative impact. Editorial justification should be made on a case-by-case basis and take account of the impact on contributors, or where relevant those closest to them, and audiences. It includes, but is not limited to: balancing the privacy of individuals against the public interest in revealing information about them; and balancing the use of potentially offensive output against the 91福利社's and audiences' freedom of expression.
1.5 Ofcom
Under the Charter, Ofcom must regulate the standards of relevant 91福利社 UK Public Service content to ensure it meets the requirements of Ofcom's Standards and Fairness Codes[5]. It therefore considers complaints against some 91福利社 broadcast content.
Ofcom does not regulate standards for the 91福利社 World Service. 91福利社 commercial broadcast services, provided by 91福利社 companies, are not UK Public Services but they are subject to Ofcom's content standards regulation where they are distributed under Ofcom licences.
Where Ofcom finds a breach of its Broadcasting Code, it may require the 91福利社 to broadcast a statement of its findings. Where Ofcom considers its code has been breached 'seriously, deliberately, repeatedly or recklessly' it can impose sanctions which range from a requirement to broadcast a correction or statement of finding to a fine of no more than 拢250,000.
1.6 Accountability
The Charter sets out the 91福利社's duty to be transparent and accountable. The 91福利社 must publish an Annual Report and Accounts which must include information showing how appropriate editorial standards have been set, reviewed and met. It must also include information about how the 91福利社 has served the nations and regions of the UK and whether there have been significant changes to any Public Services. The 91福利社 must also report on how complaints have been handled and what has been learned from them.
Additionally, the 91福利社 Board will hold the 91福利社 Executive to account to ensure editorial standards are maintained. It will commission thematic reviews in key areas of public debate and these findings will be published.
1.7 Complaints
The 91福利社 is open in acknowledging mistakes when they are made and wants to learn from them. It is required to set and publish procedures for the handling and resolution of complaints. The 91福利社 Complaints Procedure[6] sets out the timeframes that complaints will normally be answered within and relates both to the obligations of its Public Services and also its commercial operations.
Complaints about most 91福利社 content[7] are dealt with by the 91福利社 first, as set out in the Complaints Procedure[8]. Complaints are handled by 91福利社 Audience Services in the first instance, but complainants dissatisfied with the response can ask the 91福利社's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) to investigate.
The Executive Complaints Unit deals with complaints about possible breaches of the 91福利社's editorial standards in connection with specific programmes or items of content. It deals with complaints about any 91福利社 service, platform or product where the 91福利社 has editorial responsibility. This includes international, public and commercial services and 91福利社-branded magazines.
The Executive Complaints Unit will also consider 'general complaints', which may be complaints about editorial issues which are directed at the output as a whole rather than specific items, or about a range of non-editorial matters.
The Executive Complaints Unit's decisions are subject to review by the Director-General, as the 91福利社's editor-in-chief.
Where the Executive Complaints Unit identifies a serious breach of the editorial standards set out in these Guidelines, its finding will normally be published on the 91福利社 complaints website. It may also direct the 91福利社 to broadcast an apology or correction.
If complainants are not satisfied with the Executive Complaints Unit finding, and the complaint relates to 91福利社 content regulated by Ofcom, the complainant can refer the matter to Ofcom, after the 91福利社 has finished considering the complaint. Ofcom will adjudicate on whether there has been a breach of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.
Complaints about 91福利社 World Service content and 91福利社 content on social media do not come within Ofcom's remit and are considered within the 91福利社's complaints process, in line with the Complaints Procedure.
1.8 Accessibility
The 91福利社 is committed to being inclusive and accessible to all audiences and is required by law to make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure disabled people can access output.
The 91福利社 provides subtitling, audio-description and sign language services, but what is considered 'reasonable' will evolve as technology develops.[9]
Ofcom also sets mandatory requirements for all broadcasters.[10]
Decisions taken throughout the production process will affect whether output is accessible to people with some visual impairment, including colour blindness, hearing loss or speech impairment. Producers must take account of the requirement that, as far as reasonably practicable, 91福利社 content is accessible to those audiences.
(See guidance: Visually Impaired and Hearing-Impaired Audiences)
Footnotes
- [1] Broadcasting: Royal Charter for the Continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation December 2016. 鈫�
- [2] Broadcasting: An Agreement Between Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the British Broadcasting Corporation December 2016. 鈫�
- [3] The . 鈫�
- [4] Article 5 The 91福利社's Mission, Broadcasting: Royal Charter for the Continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation December 2016. 鈫�
- [5] Article 46 Principal functions of Ofcom, Broadcasting: Royal Charter for the Continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation December 2016. 鈫�
- [6] 91福利社 Complaints Framework and Procedures June 2020. 鈫�
- [7] Individuals may make first-party complaints relating to fairness and privacy directly to Ofcom. 鈫�
- [8] 91福利社 Complaints Framework and Procedures June 2020. 鈫�
- [9] 91福利社 Policies: Subtitles on TV and Audio description on TV. Available on Gateway for 91福利社 staff or via commissioning editors for independent producers. 鈫�
- [10] . 鈫�