Media News - Thursday, October 08, 2009

BBC unveils guidelines for journalists’ online content

The BBC Trust Wednesday unveiled a new set of editorial guidelines that could lead to changes to the content its journalists can post online. The draft guidelines, which cover everything from bad language to impartiality, state that: "Nothing should be written by [BBC] journalists and presenters that would not be said on-air." Some industry observers are already referring to that as the "Jeremy Bowen clause". The BBC's highly-regarded Middle East editor, was censured by the Trust in April for loose phrasing in a potted history of post-war Israel, which appeared on the BBC News website. "Our audiences should not be able to tell from BBC programmes or other BBC output the personal prejudices of our journalists and presenters on such matters," the new guidance says. "This applies as much to online content as it does to news bulletins. Nothing should be written by journalists and presenters that would not be said on-air". The draft guidelines also make it clear that bad language should not automatically be permitted even after the 9pm watershed, when many children are still watching or listening to its programmes. (The Guardian)

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