Rules

In a think piece for the Guardian, Stewart Purvis and Chris Banatvala throw down a challenge to Lord Grade, Melanie Dawes and Cristina Nicolloti Squires of Ofcom to get a grip before the General Election. 

Stewart was editor in chief of ITN and a former Ofcom content and standards partner. Chris Banatvala is an independent expert member of the Sky News board, has done similar for the BBC, and was Ofcom’s founding director of standards responsible for drafting and enforcing its first broadcasting code.

When the broadcasting code, which all UK broadcasters must comply with, was first published almost 20 years ago, it was never envisaged that sitting politicians and senior officials from the same political party would present news and current affairs shows day in, day out. If it did happen, then it would certainly raise questions under the impartiality rules. Now presenters give long monologues on no end of controversial matters and frequently go unchallenged. But neither the law, the code nor Ofcom’s published guidance on the code has changed.

It is not for Ofcom but parliament to decide whether impartiality rules should be weakened, changed or abandoned. If, after public and parliamentary debate, there’s a view that perhaps impartiality should only apply to public service broadcasters, then so be it. But, at the moment, the rules are being changed by the back door.