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1.9.1 Knowledge of and familiarity with the Editorial Guidelines is an essential professional skill. Everyone who makes or presents ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ content is contractually required to observe and abide by them.

1.9.2 When applying these Guidelines, individuals and teams are expected to make most of the necessary judgements, but some issues require careful consideration at a higher level. No one should hesitate to ask for advice, and the Editorial Guidelines therefore advise, and sometimes require, reference to more senior editorial figures, Editorial Policy or specialists such as Programme Legal Advice or safety experts.

1.9.3 Editors and managers must be prepared to discuss areas of concern and be ready to offer guidance. They must support producers and other staff in the editorial management of their content, including the effective supervision of on-air presenters, reporters and other on-air roles.

1.9.4 Issues may arise that overlap with, or are separate from, editorial concerns. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has specialist internal advisers on legal, data protection, safety, pronunciation, international filming, health and safeguarding matters, who should be consulted as appropriate. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News maintains bureaux around the world, a political research team and a head of statistics.

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has a separate legal team in Scotland who can advise on Scottish legal issues.

Editorial Guidance

1.9.5 The Editorial Guidelines are supplemented by further guidance, which is available on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Editorial Guidelines website. The guidance contains additional information about how specific areas of the Guidelines can be applied and interpreted. New guidance is written when necessary.

Referrals

1.9.6 The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s reputation rests on sound decision-making, and the referrals system ensures that complex editorial decisions are properly considered. Referrals lie at the heart of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s editorial process and are a source of its strength. No one involved in the making or presenting of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ output should hesitate to refer editorial dilemmas.

1.9.7 The Editorial Guidelines specify a number of Mandatory Referrals. These may be to senior editorial figures within the output division, Editorial Policy, including the Director, Editorial Policy and Standards or, on occasion, other areas of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

Mandatory Referrals are an essential part of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s editorial and compliance process and must be observed.

The Mandatory Referrals are summarised in each section of the Guidelines. However, they must be read in the context of the relevant cross-referenced Guidelines to be fully understood.

The more important or contentious the issue, the higher the referral needs to be. The content maker is responsible for knowing who to refer their query to. If in doubt, refer.

1.9.8 On occasion, the Editorial Guidelines suggest or require referral to an internal ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ resource that independent production companies are unable to access. In such cases, independents should make the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ commissioning editor or equivalent aware.

Contracts with independent production companies should define where legal liabilities lie and independent production companies should take independent legal advice as appropriate. However, independent production companies may refer legal questions of an editorial nature through their commissioning editor who may discuss them with Programme Legal Advice.

1.9.9 Any significant breach of the editorial standards in the Guidelines should be referred promptly to an appropriate senior editorial figure, who will consider what action may be needed – including whether content should be amended, corrected or removed or if an apology should be given.

Editorial Policy

1.9.10 While responsibility for editorial content lies with output teams, advice can be sought from Editorial Policy. The Editorial Policy team, led by Director Editorial Policy and Standards, provides advice on how to work within the Guidelines at every stage of the production process for every type of content. The earlier that potentially contentious content is referred the better. Advice is available 24 hours a day.

In addition to the referrals specified in each section, Editorial Policy can be consulted on questions about how to interpret or apply the Editorial Guidelines.

Editorial Compliance and Standards

Editorial justification is the judgement that the benefit from any editorial decision or content outweighs any negative impact. Editorial justification should be made on a case-by-case basis and take account of the impact on contributors, or where relevant those closest to them, and audiences.

1.9.11 The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s compliance obligations require that all content that is not live is reviewed before publication or broadcast and the results of that review recorded and kept. Separate guidance is available for live output. Most news output is normally treated as live. All live programmes that include pre-recorded inserts are treated as live.

(See Guidance: Live Output)

The Editorial Guidelines, referrals and advice from Editorial Policy can inform the judgements that are essential to the editorial compliance of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ output. Legal advice may also be necessary.

Advice on the compliance process is available from the Heads of Editorial Standards/Compliance and Complaints and/or compliance managers in each output division.