BBC’s duty of impartiality
The key documents here are (in the descending order of legal importance):
1. The Royal Charter;
2. Agreement Between Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the BBC;
3. Editorial Guidelines.
The Editorial Guidelines are the most strict on impartiality, the Agreement is less strict, and the Royal Charter does not mention it. However, all three documents must be considered together, because the Agreement is effectively incorporated into the Royal Charter, and the Editorial Guidelines are effectively incorporated into the Agreement. In any case, for the purposes of Contract Law, all three were part of the BBC’s Offer and therefore became terms of the contract.
Clause 44 of the Agreement reads:
44. Accuracy and impartiality
(1) The BBC must do all it can to ensure that controversial subjects are treated with due accuracy and impartiality in all relevant output.
[…]
(5) The Trust must—
(a) draw up and from time to time review a code giving guidance as to the rules to be observed in connection with the application of paragraphs (1) to (4), and
(b) do all it can to secure that the code is complied with.
[…]
(8) For the purposes of this clause—
“relevant output” means the output of any UK Public Service which—
(a) consists of news, or
(b) deals with matters of public policy or of political or industrial controversy;
[…]
Editorial Guidelines are the Code referred to in Clause 44 (5) and are thus incorporated in the Agreement. They contain detailed and stringent requirements to impartiality.
Below is the full text of Clause 44 of the Agreement:
44. Accuracy and impartiality
(1) The BBC must do all it can to ensure that controversial subjects are treated with due
accuracy and impartiality in all relevant output.
(2) In applying paragraph (1), a series of programmes may be considered as a whole.
(3) The UK Public Services must not contain any output which expresses the opinion of the
BBC or of its Trust or Executive Board on current affairs or matters of public policy other
than broadcasting or the provision of online services.
(4) Paragraph (3) does not apply to output which consists of—
(1) The BBC must do all it can to ensure that controversial subjects are treated with due
accuracy and impartiality in all relevant output.
(2) In applying paragraph (1), a series of programmes may be considered as a whole.
(3) The UK Public Services must not contain any output which expresses the opinion of the
BBC or of its Trust or Executive Board on current affairs or matters of public policy other
than broadcasting or the provision of online services.
(4) Paragraph (3) does not apply to output which consists of—
(a) proceedings in either House of Parliament;
(b) proceedings in the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly or the Northern Ireland
Assembly; or
(c) proceedings of a local authority or a committee of two or more local authorities.
(5) The Trust must—
(a) draw up and from time to time review a code giving guidance as to the rules to be
observed in connection with the application of paragraphs (1) to (4), and
(b) do all it can to secure that the code is complied with.
(6) The rules in the code must, in particular, take account of the following matters—
(a) that due impartiality should be preserved by the BBC as respects major matters
falling within paragraph (b) of the definition of “relevant output” (in paragraph (8))
as well as matters falling within it taken as a whole; and
(b) the need to determine what constitutes a series of programmes for the purposes of
paragraph (2).
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(7) The rules must, in addition, indicate to such extent as the Trust considers appropriate—
(a) what due impartiality does and does not require, either generally or in relation to
particular circumstances;
(b) the ways in which due impartiality may be achieved in connection with programmes
of particular descriptions;
(c) the period within which a programme should be included in a service if its inclusion
is intended to secure that due impartiality is achieved for the purposes of paragraph
(1) in connection with that programme and any programme previously included in
that service taken together; and
(d) in relation to any inclusion in a service of a series of programmes which is of a
description specified in the rules—
(i) that the dates and times of the other programmes comprised in the series should
be announced at the time when the first programme so comprised is included in
that service, or
(ii) if that is not practicable, that advance notice should be given by other means of
subsequent programmes so comprised which include material intended to
secure, or assist in securing, that due impartiality is achieved in connection with
the series as a whole;
and the rules must, in particular, indicate that due impartiality does not require absolute
neutrality on every issue or detachment from fundamental democratic principles.
(8) For the purposes of this clause—
“relevant output” means the output of any UK Public Service which—
(a) consists of news, or
(b) deals with matters of public policy or of political or industrial controversy;
“programme”, except in paragraph (7)(c) and (d), includes any item of output in nonprogramme
form; and
(a) draw up and from time to time review a code giving guidance as to the rules to be
observed in connection with the application of paragraphs (1) to (4), and
(b) do all it can to secure that the code is complied with.
(6) The rules in the code must, in particular, take account of the following matters—
(a) that due impartiality should be preserved by the BBC as respects major matters
falling within paragraph (b) of the definition of “relevant output” (in paragraph (8))
as well as matters falling within it taken as a whole; and
(b) the need to determine what constitutes a series of programmes for the purposes of
paragraph (2).
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(7) The rules must, in addition, indicate to such extent as the Trust considers appropriate—
(a) what due impartiality does and does not require, either generally or in relation to
particular circumstances;
(b) the ways in which due impartiality may be achieved in connection with programmes
of particular descriptions;
(c) the period within which a programme should be included in a service if its inclusion
is intended to secure that due impartiality is achieved for the purposes of paragraph
(1) in connection with that programme and any programme previously included in
that service taken together; and
(d) in relation to any inclusion in a service of a series of programmes which is of a
description specified in the rules—
(i) that the dates and times of the other programmes comprised in the series should
be announced at the time when the first programme so comprised is included in
that service, or
(ii) if that is not practicable, that advance notice should be given by other means of
subsequent programmes so comprised which include material intended to
secure, or assist in securing, that due impartiality is achieved in connection with
the series as a whole;
and the rules must, in particular, indicate that due impartiality does not require absolute
neutrality on every issue or detachment from fundamental democratic principles.
(8) For the purposes of this clause—
“relevant output” means the output of any UK Public Service which—
(a) consists of news, or
(b) deals with matters of public policy or of political or industrial controversy;
“programme”, except in paragraph (7)(c) and (d), includes any item of output in nonprogramme
form; and
“series of programmes”, except in paragraph (7)(d),