Editorial risk

Compliance

Compliance ensures that the BBC's editorial values of: impartiality, accuracy, fairness and editorial integrity are adequately reflected in all content. Maintaining trust with audiences by embodying these values is of vital importance and ensuring those values are not ignored is, in essence, what compliance is about.

Compliance form

Under the industry’s standard terms of trade the BBC expects independent Producers to deliver fully compliant content, including all promotional material.

Independent companies who have completed a commissioned programme must complete their compliance form via Proteus. The compliance form is a snapshot of the editorial judgements taken when making the programme.

For in-house suppliers the form must be signed off before Transmission by the BBC Producer and by the BBC Editor.

For Independent suppliers the form must be signed off before Transmission by the supplier’s Authorised Company Representative and by a senior BBC editorial figure.

The compliance form must be signed off by both the producer for Indies and a BBC representative before transmission. It summarises the application of the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines. A thorough understanding of the Editorial Guidelines and associated Guidance notes (PDF) is vital.

Editorial judgement is not always easy and discussion with others is helpful and occasionally essential. If you want to discuss an aspect of the application of the Guidelines to your programme, please refer initially to your Commissioning Editor or, for Radio 4, the Editor, Editorial Standards. If they are not available, contact Editorial Policy - 020 8008 1819 for free advice.

Live programmes

Live programmes cannot be fully complied in advance and so do not require a compliance form to be completed in Proteus. However, care should be taken to consider potential compliance risks ahead of transmission and steps taken to minimise them. The Editorial Guidelines offers specific guidance on live output.