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Key Points

• All links on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Public Service site or on the editorial pages of a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Commercial site must be editorially justifiable

• Audiences need to be confident that our decisions on using links and feeds are influenced neither by political or commercial pressures, nor by any personal interests

• A link must never be included on the Public Service site or within the editorial content of a commercial site in return for cash, services or any other consideration in kind.

• An external site which is a candidate for a link should, generally, be relevant to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ content from which a link is envisaged and meet the expectations of the likely audience.

• The producer must check the contents of the external site before adding a link to a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ page.

• ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ sites which cover matters of controversy or public policy may offer links to external sites which, taken together, represent a reasonable range of views about the subject.

• For programme support pages, an external link should be justified by the relevance and value of the material to the programme's audience.

• When linking to any commercial site, great care must be taken to avoid giving the impression that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ is endorsing a commercial product or service.

• Links from individual pages on the Public Service site to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Commercial sites are acceptable only when clearly editorially justified.

• It is likely to be editorially justifiable to link directly to the source of tickets if the event for which the tickets are being sold is a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Event. If not, a link to eg the band's own site would be editorially justifiable, from where a user can click to the ticket agency's site.

• Pulling third party feeds onto ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Online pages is more editorially sensitive, because users expect the feeds to have been through a rigorous editorial examination and to comply with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ editorial standards.

• The person responsible for the page on which a feed or embed appears will be responsible for the content from that feed or embed and should be prepared to remove links quickly, if necessary.

• It should be clear to audiences whenever content is taken in from an external supplier.

• Audiences should be able to easily report errors or inappropriate content.

• It should be clear that an inbound embed (for example, of video from a social networking site) is not under the editorial control of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and is not primarily the responsibility of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. But editors are responsible for deciding what non-ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ content to embed on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ pages and should be alert to the possibility of the original content being changed or removed and to rights issues.

Introduction

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s global reputation is based on its editorial integrity and independence. Our audiences need to be confident that decisions are influenced neither by political or commercial pressures, nor by any personal interests.

The Editorial Guidelines state that:

• ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ impartiality, editorial integrity and independence must not be compromised by outside interests and arrangements. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ must maintain independent editorial control over its content
• The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ must not give undue prominence to products, services or trade marks, though can refer to and credit them where editorially justified
• ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ UK Public Services will not accept product placement, and must not endorse or promote any other organisation, products, services, trade marks, activities or opinions.
• ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Commercial Services must not promote products, services and trade marks in their content, but they can make reference to another organisation, its products, services, trade marks or activities as part of a commercial arrangement. If they do, they must follow the Guidelines on product placement, and on advertising and sponsorship on air and online credits must be clearly editorially justified

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 15 Independence from Commercial and other External Interests 15.4.22)

Links to External Sites

Whenever producers are creating content on a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ site, they should actively consider which external websites it may be editorially justifiable to link to.

This could be for

• further relevant information
• further background information or other key source material
• useful practical information
• further informed comment

A link must never be included on the public service site or within the editorial content of a commercial site in return for cash, services or any other consideration in kind.

All links on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Public Service site or on the editorial pages of a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Commercial site must be editorially justifiable and suitable for the intended audience – particularly children.

Links are not acceptable as a form of a credit.

Editorial Checks

Producers must check the contents of any site before adding a link to it on a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ page, although responsibility for including the link lies with the relevant editor.

They should consider ways to enable users who find inappropriate external links to report them so that appropriate action can be taken.

Disclaimers

A standard disclaimer to the effect that "the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ is not responsible for the contents of any other sites listed" should be added to any published list of links. If the links are to controversial or challenging material, it may be appropriate to add a specific disclaimer and more information, closer to the links. For "in story" links to such material, for example to very sensitive content it may be helpful to alert the user to this, in context, as part of telling the story.

Links to sites which do not share ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ editorial values

Context is important in deciding whether a link is appropriate and it is often useful to explain why one is included. In some cases, a link may be offered to a site which does not share ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ editorial values, but which offers a useful insight - for example from a current affairs page to the site of a government-run national news agency so that the user can see the precise words used in a government statement.

Controversial content

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ sites which cover a controversial or public policy matter may offer links to external sites which, taken together, represent a reasonable range of views about the subject. When linking to third party sites any concerns about potential breaches of the law, for example, defamation or incitement to racial hatred should be considered.

Where content is likely to cause serious offence to some users and yet there is a strong editorial justification for covering the story, it may be editorially justifiable for the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ to link to the relevant site rather than to host the content ourselves.

Charities

Links to charity sites have to be based on appropriate editorial criteria. If one charity is in the news, it may be appropriate to establish a link to the site of that charity. But one charity should not be promoted above another. Where the links give advice or general information about a subject significant charities working in the field should be included. This guidance applies to online links offered by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Action Lines.

(See Editorial Guidelines 15.4.28)

It is also important to consider where on the charity website we link to – for example it may be appropriate to link to useful sources of information, but not to campaigning or fundraising pages.

Programme Support

For programme support pages, an external linking should be justified by the relevance and value of the material to the programme's viewers and listeners. Links should be given to a reasonable range of relevant agencies.

Where a consumer programme reviews a product or service, links to the sites of the manufacturers, suppliers or retailers of any goods or services mentioned should only be offered where editorially justifiable

Undue prominence

There must be no undue prominence of products, services or trade marks in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ content.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 15 Independence from Commercial and other External Interests 15.4.22)

Public Services must not endorse or promote any other organisation, or its products, services or trademarks, so great care must be taken when linking to any site in order not to give the impression that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ is doing so.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Public Service sites should not normally link direct to pages whose main purpose is transactional e.g. selling merchandise, downloads or tickets.

There may be exceptions for links to buy ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½-related programme content or to buy tickets for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Events. There are some occasions producers may also wish to link directly to a donations page for a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ charitable appeal.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 16: External Relationships, including Commercial Relationships, and Financing 16.4.49)

If in any doubt, refer to Editorial Policy.

Links from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Public Services to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s commercial sites

Links from individual pages on the Public Service site to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Commercial sites must be editorially justified. They should not be seen to promote the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Commercial sites in preference to other editorially relevant sites

There may be a justification for linking to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Commercial sites where they feature relevant branded products or other transactional purposes.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 15 Independence from Commercial and other External Interests 15.4.25-15.4.26)

Where appropriate, an interstitial page may appear on the user's journey between the Public Service site and the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Commercial site. It will let users know that they are leaving the public service site and offer them a choice.

Links to buy tickets

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ programmes and sites regularly cover music concerts and tours. Linking policy to sites where users can buy tickets will depend on the nature of the event.

If it is a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ mounted or run event (on the Public Services to contribute to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Mission and Public Purposes), then a direct link to the source of the tickets is likely to be editorially justifiable.

If it is not a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ mounted or run event (and where for example a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ network is simply broadcasting a concert organised by someone else) then a direct link to the relevant band's site is likely to be editorially justifiable, with one more click from there to the ticket agency's site.

Inbound Feeds and Embeds

Pulling third-party content onto ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Online pages is more editorially sensitive than linking externally. Following an external link takes users away from the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ site and users have a chance to adjust their expectations in the light of that journey. But as third party content sits with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ content on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ branded pages, users are more likely to expect it to have been through a rigorous editorial examination and to comply with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ editorial standards before being published on our site.

Editorial responsibility

The person who is editorially responsible for the page on which the feed or embed appears will be responsible for the content from that feed or embed. This principle will apply whether it is a bespoke feed to a single page or a general feed to many pages.

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ would not normally embed a live feed of video or text unless there was a contractual relationship with the supplier that provides assurances about the content or was otherwise confident that the content is appropriate to be shared on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ platforms.

Transparency

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ should be transparent about content that comes from an external supplier. Attribution should be as close as possible to the content in question.

There should be a clear and easy route for users to report a mistake or find offensive or inappropriate content on a feed.

Embeds

Embedded video, for example of a social networking site video player such as YouTube ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ page, may be a useful way to display editorially relevant non-ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ content.

Even though the content is not under ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ control it appears to the audience that it is part of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ online content. It should therefore be clear that the embedded video is from a third party site and give the audience a direct route to report any inappropriate content.