The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public

service broadcaster.

 Headquarters: Broadcasting House London, United Kingdom

 Area served: World wide
 Services: Television, Radio, Online

It is the world's oldest national broadcasting organization and the

largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees.
The editorial guidelines are the BBC’s values And standards.
They apply to all content, wherever and however it is received.
 Under the current Charter, the BBC Board is responsible for
the Editorial Guidelines. The Agreement states that the BBC
must: “set, publish, review periodically, and observe
guidelines designed to secure appropriate standards in the
context of the UK Public Services”.
 The BBC's Editorial Values, and the Editorial Guidelines, are rooted in
the Royal Charter and the Agreement.
The ‘Royal charter’ guarantees the editorial independence of the BBC and
sets out its Public Purposes. These are defined as:
 sustaining citizenship and civil society
 promoting education and learning
 stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
 representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
 bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
 in promoting its other purposes, helping to deliver to the public the
benefit of emerging communications technologies and services and, in
addition, taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television
The Agreement accompanying the BBC Charter specifies
that we should do all we can “to ensure that controversial
subjects are treated with due accuracy and impartiality” in
our news and other output dealing with matters of public
policy or political or industrial controversy. It also states
that our output is forbidden from expressing the opinion of
the BBC on current affairs or matters of public policy,
other than broadcasting or the provision of online services.
In addition, the Agreement forbids any BBC service funded
by the license fee or grant-in-aid from carrying advertising
or sponsored programmes. To protect editorial integrity
and independence, the BBC has drawn up its own
guidelines on standards for advertising and sponsorship for
its commercial television and online services.
There are different editorial values to keep in mind:
 Trust
 Truth and accuracy
 Impartiality
 Editorial integrity and independence
 Harm and offense
 Serving the public interest
 Fairness
 Privacy
 Children
 Transparency
 Accountability
 Audiences are at the heart of everything we do.
 We are committed to giving them high-quality, original and at
times challenging output. Creativity is the lifeblood of our
organization.
 Equally, we must give our audiences content made to the
highest editorial and ethical standards. Their trust depends on
it.
 We must therefore balance our presumption of freedom of
expression with our responsibilities, for example to respect
privacy, to be fair, to avoid unjustifiable offence and to
provide appropriate protection for our audiences from harm.
 The Human Rights Act 1998: recognizes the right to freedom of
expression, which includes the audience’s right to receive
creative material, information and ideas without interference,
subject to restrictions in law. It also recognizes the right to
private and family life and to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion.
 We seek to uphold the BBC's Editorial Values in all we
do. They embody our freedoms and responsibilities and, like
the Editorial Guidelines, apply to all our content, whether it is
made by the BBC itself or by an independent company
working for the BBC, and whether it is made for radio,
television, online, mobile devices, interactive services or the
printed word. What follows are challenging requirements, but
they are essential to everything we do.
There are many things which are used as guideline:

 Accuracy:
The BBC is committed to achieving due accuracy. Accuracy is not
simply a matter of getting facts right. If an issue is controversial,
relevant opinions as well as facts may need to be considered. When
necessary, all the relevant facts and information should also be
weighed to get at the truth.

 Impartiality:
Impartiality lies at the heart of public service and is the core of the
BBC's commitment to its audiences. It applies to all our output and
services - television, radio, online, and in our international services
and commercial magazines. We must be inclusive, considering the
broad perspective and ensuring the existence of a range of views
is appropriately reflected.
 Harm and offense:
When our content includes challenging material that risks offending
some of our audience we must always be able to demonstrate a clear
editorial purpose, taking account of generally accepted standards, and
ensure it is clearly signposted. Such challenging material may include,
but is not limited to, strong language, violence, sex, sexual violence,
humiliation, distress, violation of human dignity, and discriminatory
treatment or language.

 Fairness, contributors and consent:

The BBC strives to be fair to all - fair to those our output is about, fair
to contributors, and fair to our audiences. BBC content should be based
on respect, openness and straight dealing. We also have an obligation
under the Ofcom Broadcasting Code to "avoid unjust or unfair
treatment of individuals or organisations in programmes".
Privacy:
The BBC respects privacy and does not infringe it without good reason,
wherever in the world it is operating. The Human Rights Act 1998 gives
protection to the privacy of individuals, and private information about
them, but balances that with a broadcaster's right to freedom of
expression. In regulation, the Ofcom Broadcasting Code states "Any
infringement of privacy in programmes, or in connection with obtaining
material included in programmes, must be warranted."

Reporting crime and anti social behavior:

Our coverage of crime and anti-social behaviour is part of the BBC's
public purpose and is aimed at giving audiences the facts in their
context. However, we must ensure that the public interest in our
reporting is not outweighed by public concern about our methods. Our
reporting must not add to people's fear of becoming victims of crime if
statistics suggest it is very unlikely.
 Children and young people as contributors:
They ensure that the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of
children and young people is protected during the making and broadcast
of our content, irrespective of any consent given by them or by a parent,
guardian. Their interests and safety must take priority over any editorial
requirement. We must ensure that children and young people are not
caused unnecessary anxiety or distress by their involvement in our
output.
 Politics, public policies and polls:
We must treat matters of politics and public policy with due accuracy
and impartiality in news and other output. We must not express an
opinion on current affairs or matters of public policy other than
broadcasting or the provision of online services. We must not campaign,
or allow ourselves to be used to campaign. We must report opinion
polls, surveys, votes and similar research with due accuracy, regardless
of whether the research was carried out by the BBC or by others.
 War, terror & emergency:
Our reports of war, terror, emergencies and similar events must meet
the Editorial Guidelines' Principles on Accuracy and Impartiality. We
will respect human dignity without sanitising the realities of war, terror,
emergencies and similar events. There must be clear editorial
justification for the use of very graphic pictures. We will ensure, as far
as is reasonably possible, that next of kin do not learn of a relative's
death or injury from any of our content.

 Religion:
We must be aware of the religious sensitivity of references to, or uses
of, names, images, deities, rituals, scriptures and language at the heart
of the different faiths and ensure that any uses of, or verbal or visual
references to, them are editorially justified within generally accepted
standards. Examples include the Crucifixion, Holy Communion, the
Qur'an, the Jewish Sabbath and similar.
When talking about IS, Editorial Policy advice is that the term Islamic
State should be qualified e.g. “Islamic State group” or “so called
Islamic State”, or “self-style Islamic State”, or “Islamic State fighter,
militants, extremists” etc. and then as IS in the rest of the bulletin/body
of text. Islamist should be used as the adjective to describe extremism
linked to groups like this and not Islamic or Islam. We do not use the
name Da'esh for IS but we explain it when others use it.
 We must report acts of terror quickly, accurately, fully and
responsibly. Terrorism is a difficult and emotive subject with
significant political overtones and care is required in the use
of language that carries value judgments. We try to avoid the
use of the term "terrorist" without attribution. When we do
use the term we should strive to do so with consistency in the
stories we report across all our services and in a way that does
not undermine our reputation for objectivity and accuracy.
Just a reminder about guidance on use of social media.
 For work purposes, this guidance covers a range of issues
such as using social media as a means of engaging with your
audience, and avoiding undue prominence.
 For personal use, the basic principle is to not do anything that
will bring you or the BBC into disrepute.
 However, when someone clearly identifies their association
with the BBC and/or discusses their work, they are expected
to behave appropriately when on the Internet, and in ways
that are consistent with the BBC's editorial values and
policies.
The BBC's reputation for impartiality and objectivity is crucial.
The public must be able to trust the integrity of BBC
programmes and services. Our audiences need to be confident
that the outside activities of our presenters, programme makers
and other staff do not undermine the BBC's impartiality or
reputation and that editorial decisions are not perceived to be
influenced by any commercial or personal interests.
 To this end when identified as a BBC staff member or BBC
talent, people:
 Should not engage in activities on the Internet which might
bring the BBC into disrepute;
 Should act in a transparent manner when altering online
sources of information;
 Should not use the Internet in any way to attack or abuse
colleagues;
 Should not post derogatory or offensive comments on the
Internet.
 Even if they are not identified as a BBC staff member,
editorial staff and staff in politically sensitive areas should not
be seen to support any political party or cause.