Has the BBC been knobbled???

[Guest guest]

Live coverage of sensitive news events such as the Beslan school siege

or the September 11 attacks will be broadcast on the BBC in future

with a time delay.

 

The policy is set out in Editorial Guidelines coming into effect in July.

 

Caution over showing sensitive footage is not new at the corporation

but it is the first time a delay has explicitly been written into

guidelines.

 

There is also a written commitment that " accuracy is more important

than speed " in breaking news.

 

The Editorial Guidelines will replace the BBC Producers' Guidelines

which have been revised to reflect Ofcom's new broadcasting code and

the " changing media environment " .

 

" The guidelines are part of our contract with our audiences, " said

Stephen Whittle, BBC Controller of Editorial Policy.

 

" These are our editorial ethics and values and the standards we set

for ourselves. We intend to live and be judged by them. "

 

'Upsetting' images

 

Last September, the BBC and most other TV news networks reported live

from the scene of the Beslan siege in Russia, in which more than 330

people lost their lives.

 

The coverage fuelled a debate over whether some of the images were too

graphic for audiences.

 

One of the new BBC directives states a delay " must be installed when

broadcasting live coverage of sensitive and challenging events " .

 

New editorial guidelines

The new set of guidelines has 197 pages

 

The delay - the length of which will be left to the discretion of the

editor in charge - would allow time to exclude any potential material.

 

" The purpose is to avoid really distressing, upsetting images that our

viewers might not want to see going straight out, " a BBC spokeswoman said.

 

" It will only be used in very exceptional circumstances, " she added.

 

The BBC's television and radio content now needs to comply with the

Ofcom Broadcasting Code in six key areas: Protecting the Under

Eighteens; Harm and Offence; Crime; Religion; Fairness and Privacy.

 

Revisions were made to the BBC's Producers' Guidelines following

recommendations made in the Neil report into editorial issues raised

by the Hutton Inquiry. But the last formal update was in 2000.

 

The BBC said the new guidelines being launched on Thursday aim to be

clearer and easier to use. They will be published in both a print and

searchable format on the internet.

 

Mr Whittle must now also personally approve of any proposal to employ

someone known to have a criminal record or background of illegal activity.

 

Other key changes include:

 

# A requirement that the use of secret recording in a BBC

investigation must be kept under constant review.

 

# New advice on BBC investigations into crime and serious anti-social

behaviour, which must be clearly editorially justified.

 

# A suggestion the BBC should normally consider asking contributors to

sign contracts - including a declaration of personal information such

as criminal convictions or that which may involve personal conflicts

of interest.