Carry On

Fearless Ofcom Witchfinder-General Kevin Bakhurst has gone easy on his former employer, BBC News and Current Affairs, in the watchdog's first formal review of performance. His strictures are motherhood and apple pie:  "Our research suggests that there is scope for BBC news and current affairs content to be more representative, engaging and informative."

Here's the recommendations, extracted so you don't have to read 31 pages. 

"Accurate news provision must continue to be the main priority for the BBC. Maintaining an intense focus on this is the best way for the BBC to retain and strengthen its reputation. As long as people continue to turn to the BBC at important moments, it has the opportunity to attract and serve the broadest range of audiences."

"Broadcasting rules do not require the BBC or other broadcasters to be absolutely neutral on every
issue within news and current affairs, but they must be duly impartial. This means journalists
should take context into account when considering how to achieve due impartiality. They should
feel able to challenge controversial viewpoints that have little support or are not backed up by
facts, making this clear to viewers, listeners and readers.

Our research shows that audiences have respect for the calibre of the BBC’s journalism and expect
its reporters to investigate, analyse and explain events. This should give the BBC confidence to be
bolder in its approach."

"The BBC should better represent the whole of the UK with authentic news and current affairs
content that feels relevant and engaging to all audiences.

The BBC's Director General has spoken of the need for it to better reflect the diversity of UK
society. Audiences told us they want to see more news about their communities, reported by
people with a deeper understanding of the area. People outside London thought the BBC could
improve how it reflected and reported on their lives. People from minority ethnic groups told us
they want to feel their voice is represented.

With its unparalleled local and regional newsgathering resources, the BBC should be able to
represent the whole country authentically through a variety of style, tone and subject matter. "

"Although the BBC's online news services currently reach a broad audience, our work suggests that
its heavier online users are generally those in older age groups who are already well served by BBC
television and radio, rather than the younger audiences who are turning away from those
platforms.

As more people rely on social media and aggregator platforms for news, the BBC's online content
needs to do more to stand out – or risk losing its reputation and status as a trusted voice. We
believe that transparency about its approach will aid trust in the BBC. The BBC should publish the
steps it is taking to help all audiences – especially younger people – to understand and engage
with the world around them. "

"Following the publication of this report we will gather evidence, including formally requesting
information from the BBC, to establish if it should do more to link to outside sources. As part of
this, we will look at the BBC’s performance in this area, as well as the wording of the current
licence condition, to determine whether it remains appropriate, given changes in news
consumption."