VLV Responds to draft BBC Editorial Guidelines

VLV has made a submission to the BBC in response to its Editorial Guidelines consultation which closed on 12 November. While we welcome the ambition of the Editorial Guidelines we do not believe they are a useful tool for producers in their everyday work. Producers are contractually obliged to abide by the Guidelines and VLV does not consider this to be a reasonable request. 

VLV has recommended that the Editorial Guidelines document should be retained as a reference document and referred to by senior Editorial staff and those in the Editorial Policy Unit when they advise producers. Alongside that we believe a separate set of Guidelines should be published for producers in which the emphasis is shifted towards an understanding of the ethical principles which are at the heart of the Editorial Guidelines. This set of producers’ guidelines should be shorter, less abstract, with more concrete examples which bring the principles of the Editorial Guidelines ‘to life’ and which highlight the principles and ethics of the BBC. In this way, we believe that producers will find it easier to keep the principles of the Editorial Guidelines at the front of their minds in their everyday work.

You can read VLV’s full response here.