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Press Releases
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Trust updated on editorial action plan
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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Director-General Mark Thompson updated the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Trust today on the significant progress that the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ has made in relation to the action plan announced on 18 July addressing serious breaches of editorial standards.
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The Director-General also notified the Trust of two further breaches that had come to light.
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Neither of the two new cases revealed any new types of failing editorial practice which have not already been captured by the action plan, and both predate the commencement of the action plan. Both cases have also been reported to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Trust's Editorial Standards Committee and to Ofcom.
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Specific progress on the action plan is:
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An Editorial Standards Board, a high level sub-committee of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Direction Group chaired by Mark Byford, Deputy Director-General, was established last July. The Board has met 18 times and has driven and co-ordinated the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ management's response to the serious editorial breaches. In particular, the Board has established a comprehensive training programme for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ staff, devised new guidance for running competitions on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ and reviewed editorial compliance procedures across the Corporation.
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A major programme of communication on the seriousness of the incidents and the need to address them has taken place over the last six months.
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All competitions were suspended across the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ until new guidance was developed and communicated. A new Code of Conduct for competitions and voting on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ was published on 21 November. Mandatory training for staff running competitions has preceded a phased return of competitions from this month. There will be fewer competitions across the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.
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A mandatory training programme for all 17,000 programme and content staff, Safeguarding Trust, is well underway – more than 10,000 staff (58 per cent) have already attended – and a complementary internal website with a rich array of training materials has been launched to be used by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ staff and independent programme makers.
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The recommendations of the Wyatt Report, published on 5 October, which followed a serious editorial breach in relation to the promotion of a documentary series about The Queen, are being implemented in full and the progress on this is well advanced.
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All Divisional boards now have a Board member designated to have special responsibility for ensuring editorial compliance processes are well understood and are robust across their Division.
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In addition in ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Vision, a full time Head of Editorial Standards and Training has been appointed. Similar appointments are being made in other ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Divisions.
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RDF-owned suppliers are being returned to the commissioning arena in a phased manner.
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Contracts for staff, freelancers and suppliers have been strengthened to emphasise the vital importance of adhering to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s editorial policies and values.
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A new action plan around the use of telephony capping premium rate calls at 15 pence was announced on 30 December. The exception would be programmes directly related to charitable fundraising, such as ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need.
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The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is fully involved in sharing its initiatives with other parts of the industry and is supporting a pan-industry approach to training and editorial standards.
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The Director-General updated the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Trust on two further instances in which competitions had breached the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s editorial guidelines and which had been uncovered since his last report to the Trust in September.
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Jo Whiley Show, transmitted on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 1 on 12 May 2006
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In a programme which was pre-recorded to permit essential engineering work in Radio 1's studios, listeners were invited to enter a competition that had already been recorded with an on-air participant who was a listener who had expressed an interest in entering the competition the previous day. Although this person was a genuine member of the audience, the name of a second participant, mentioned on air, was invented, and listeners had been invited to telephone and text when in reality there was no opportunity to participate.
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This breach occurred three weeks after the previously reported breach on this programme.
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Russell Brand Show transmitted on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ 6 Music on
9 April 2006
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Conceived as a live show for 6 Music, the second edition of this new programme had to be recorded. In this programme, a competition winner was not a listener, but a member of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ staff. Listeners who had called or sent texts to the programme had, in reality, no opportunity to participate.
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Three subsequent recorded editions of the programme made it clear at the outset that they were pre-recorded.
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An apology to listeners is to be broadcast on both networks this week and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is contacting listeners who sent texts to the programmes but were given no opportunity to participate, and offering them compensation.
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Mark Thompson, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Director-General, said: "I am pleased to have been able to report considerable progress in delivering our action plan, which we will continue to pursue with vigour."
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Notes to Editors
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1. On 8 March 2007 the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ announced a review of programmes which used premium rate telephony.
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2. On 18 July 2007, the Director-General announced a package of tough measures to address the discovery of serious editorial breaches across some areas of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ programmes and content.
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3. The Wyatt Report was published on 5 October.
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4. On 21 November, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ announced a new Code of Conduct for Competitions and voting on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.
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5. On 30 December, a new telephony policy, which includes the capping at 15 pence of non-charitable calls to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ competitions and votes was announced.
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6. A phased return of competitions on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ begins in January 2008 with Pop Master on the Ken Bruce Show on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 2 and Goal Of The Month on Match Of The Day on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One.
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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Press Office
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