BBC’s Thompson Takes Action to Strengthen Editorial Processes

LONDON, September 21: The
BBC’s director-general Mark Thompson updated the BBC Trust on actions the
public broadcaster is taking following recent editorial breaches in shows
involving competitions and call-in voting from the audience.

Thompson reported to the
BBC Trust, the new body that oversees the BBC on behalf of license fee payers,
a number of new initiatives and they include:

An Editorial Standards
Board has been established. It is chaired by the BBC's deputy director-general
Mark Byford and consists of the BBC's most senior output directors. This group
has met weekly and has overseen the follow areas:

An unprecedented program
of editorial training, Safeguarding Trust, will begin in November. It is
expected that all 16,500 BBC production and content staff will participate in
the mandatory training program, which is not simply about reinforcing the
imperative to understand and comply with all of the BBC's values and editorial
standards, including truth and honesty. It will also enable staff to debate the
right production techniques in light of the current debate about artifice in
programs. Training materials will be made available to other broadcasters and
independent producers.

A phased and controlled
return of competitions on BBC channels and online, which are currently
suspended, is also expected to begin in November following a strengthening of
editorial guidance and control. Competitions will now be approved and
supervised at a senior level within each output area. Thompson reported to the
Trust that he expected a significant reduction in the number of competitions
being broadcast by the BBC, but he recognized that audiences very much enjoyed
taking part in BBC programs in this way.

Thompson also informed the
Trust that he has commissioned a major new online project, which will enable
the public to explore how contemporary media content is produced. The BBC
believes this will be a major contribution to media literacy in Britain. Roly
Keating, the controller of BBC Two, and Chris Burns, executive editor of
factual programs for BBC Audio and Music, have been asked to lead this work.
Both are senior program makers with substantial and distinguished experience.

A review of staff and freelance
contracts has been initiated and changes will be made to strengthen ever
further clauses relating to upholding BBC values and editorial policies and to
ensure the responsibility for ensuring the BBC's high editorial standards and
the consequences of breaching those standards are fully understood.

A BBC working party on the
use of premium rate telephony in program and content areas has made significant
progress. This includes the development of new editorial and operational
guidance, which will form part of the overall management response on
strengthening editorial compliance. The group is also revising the BBC's policy
on the use of premium rate tariffs and is looking to set up a system of
approved service providers of telephony.

Thompson will meet his
counterparts in the commercial public service broadcasters later this month to
discuss ways of working together to build and restore public confidence and
trust in the light of editorial issues across the industry.