BBC To Issue New Taste And Decency Guidelines

Views expressed at a BBC Governors’ Seminar last November on taste and decency will be incorporated into a revised version of the BBC’s guidelines for programme makers.

The Guidelines’ section on taste and decency will see a strong emphasis placed on the importance of the watershed. It will also reflect concerns about the use of bad language and the portrayal of sex and violence. The concept of ‘respect’ as a key issue in determining where the boundaries should lie in issues of taste, sex and language will be emphasised.

Producers will be encouraged to ask more detailed questions about the use of stereotypes in comedy, and there will be clearer guidance on the need for careful scheduling (on both TV and radio) and signposting of difficult or challenging programmes in both promotional material and on-air announcements. BBC Chairman Marmaduke Hussey said: “We no longer have a single audience, who hold the same beliefs, find the same jokes funny and the same insults offensive. We’re now broadcasting to a fragmented audience with very different views about good taste and decent behaviour.”

The new guidelines will be available to programme makers in the summer.

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