UPDATED There is no restriction on BBC staff participating in Pride parades, director-general Tim Davie has clarified. “There is one specific issue where I want to make sure that there is no room for misinterpretation, following inaccurate commentary and some feedback from staff – which is the ability to participate in Pride parades. There is no ban on attending Pride parades,” Davie said in an email to staff on Friday.
“If news and current affairs staff are participating in such events they must be mindful of ensuring that they do not get involved in matters which could be deemed political or controversial,” Davie added. “There is no ban on these staff attending Pride events. Attending Pride parades is possible within the guidelines, but due care needs to be given to the guidance and staff need to ensure that they are not seen to be taking a stand on politicised or contested issues.”
U.K. broadcaster BBC has published its impartiality guidelines and they include a directive not to engage in personal opinions on controversial subjects on social media.
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“If your work requires you to maintain your impartiality, don’t express a personal opinion on matters of public policy, politics, or ‘controversial subjects'” reads one of the BBC guidelines pertaining to social media. The guidelines also require BBC staff on social media not to bring the organization into disrepute, not to criticize colleagues in public and to “respect the privacy of the workplace and the confidentiality of internal announcements.”
Impartiality was one of new BBC director-general Tim Davie’s cornerstone principles when he took charge in September. Highly paid “Match of the Day” presenter Gary Lineker is known for his outspoken views on Twitter. At that time, a BBC spokesperson had said that Lineker “is not involved in any news or political output for the BBC and, as such, any expression of his personal political views does not affect the BBC’s impartiality.”
The new social media guidance applies to everyone working at the BBC, whether they are using social media professionally or personally. The social media guidance also provides clear dos and don’ts to avoid perceptions of bias and guidance on avoiding bias through follows, likes or re-posting/shares.
There will also be tougher guidelines for some staff in news, current affairs, factual journalism, senior leadership, and a small number of presenters who have a significant public profile, the BBC said. “The new tougher guidance for some staff will help to ensure social media activity complies with the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines as if it were BBC output,” said a BBC statement.
The BBC’s rules around external engagements are introducing measures to “ensure a consistent approach for these engagements, including a standardized approval process to ensure consistency and a central register of requests in each department.”
The BBC Academy will roll out impartiality training in the coming months.
“Thanks to everyone’s outstanding work we have a strong and hard-won reputation for fairness and balance,” Davie wrote in email to staff on Thursday. “We want to ensure that we keep building the trust people have in us.”
“Impartiality is the foundation on which we deliver insightful, exciting and ground-breaking stories. These guidelines are intended to help us continue to deliver this, and build audience trust,” said Davie.
