Student X

The BBC Executive has accepted the censure of the BBC Trust Editorial Standards Committee over Panorama's filming trip to North Korea last year. Reporter John Sweeney pretended to be an academic on an LSE trip, organised by his wife Tomiko, an LSE graduate employed by Panorama as a researcher/producer. In what might be an attempt at mitigation, the Executive notes that only 4 of 21 complaints were upheld - but you have to say that they were pretty serious. And I make it 5.

In respect of complaints made by Mr X on behalf of student X, the programme was found to have breached four guidelines:

6.1 "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”."

6.2.1 "We will be open, honest, straightforward and fair in our dealings with contributors and audiences unless there is a clear public interest in doing otherwise or a need to consider important issues such as legal matters, safety or confidentiality."

6.2.2 "Individuals should normally be appropriately informed about the planned nature and context of their contributions when they are asked to take part in BBC content and give their consent, unless there is an editorial justification for proceeding without consent."

6.4.1 ""We should treat our contributors honestly and with respect. Our commitment to fairness is normally achieved by ensuring that people provide ‘informed consent’ before they participate. ‘Informed consent’ means that contributors should be in possession of the knowledge that is necessary for a reasoned decision to take part in our content…the more significant their contribution, the more detail we should provide."

In respect of Tomiko Newson's role, The Trust found "her ability to make decisions solely in the best interests of the students had been compromised", thus breaching guideline....

15.2.3 "The BBC must be satisfied that individuals involved in the production of its content are free from inappropriate outside commitments and connections."

And, returning to student X, they ruled that the provision of information was insufficient and inadequate to enable her to give her informed consent to running the risks involved in the trip. "The Committee emphasised that securing informed consent should normally be the priority where a conflict arises between the need to minimise risk and the need to secure informed consent from people who put themselves at risk for the BBC.", and thus there was a breach of this guideline...

2.4.1 "The concept of editorial justification…is central to the application of our values and standards. It is a judgement on the particular circumstances of each case, balancing the editorial purposes of our output or actions with their impact on our audiences and people in our output (or, where relevant, those closest to them)."

Does it matter ? I think so. Panorama's been kicked by The Trust before, but this was the first kicking issued on Lord Hall's watch - and there was a direct appeal to the new DG to drop the programme in April last year.

Meanwhile John Sweeney, who might have known this ruling was coming, tweeted thus, a couple of days ago.

#NorthKorea Undercover: 5 stars: 'If you have read any of his books before you will love this one.' http://t.co/XbWuHv0lHG Don't tell Kim 3
— john sweeney (@johnsweeneyroar) March 15, 2014