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• Further breaches of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ editorial standards arising out of the July trawl carried out by management: Blue Peter on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One, C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and bbc.co.uk on 4 to 11 January 2006; the Tom Robinson Show on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 6 Music in September 2006; the Clare McDonnell Show on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 6 Music in September 2006; and Film Café on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Asian Network on 17 February 2007.
• Further information on the breaches of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ editorial standards already identified to the Trust in its meeting of 18 July 2007 regarding Children in Need on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One Scotland in November 2005; The Liz Kershaw Show on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 6 Music in 2006; Sport Relief on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One in July 2006; the children's programme TMi on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two and C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in September 2006; Comic Relief in March 2007; and White Label, a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service programme broadcast up to April 2006.
• Information about the problems and errors linked to phone-in and interactive competitions.

The Trust's Editorial Standards Committee held a special meeting on 17 September to consider in detail the breaches outlined above, and the committee members reported on their discussions with the Director-General and his senior team to the full Trust on 19 September.

The Director-General is issuing a separate statement today, detailing the progress made by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management since July to address the failings which have emerged.

The Trust has issued the following statement:

Statement by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust

"The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust is very concerned by any serious editorial breach, especially where it involves audience deception. We welcome the frank and detailed report presented to the Trust by the Director-General about the ten programmes which have breached editorial standards and the progress he has made to address these failings which includes disciplinary proceedings.

"These breaches, and other matters where competitions have not been run in a manner which is wholly fair, suggest that in certain parts of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ a culture has developed where knowledge of and/or adherence to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Editorial Guidelines and external regulation is inadequate and this is resulting in standards not being met which the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and the public expect of its content producers. The Trust is clear that these cases arose not because of an individual's desire for personal gain but because of some programme-makers' misguided belief that these decisions were in the interest of the programme and that that was more important than honesty and fairness to the audience. Had the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Editorial Guidelines already in place been complied with none of these breaches would have occurred. We therefore strongly endorse the training programme to be implemented across all editorial areas. We have discussed with the Director-General the need to balance creative-risk with editorial compliance and are pleased that the training sessions will provide a forum to debate this complex set of demands and establish clear boundaries for everyone in programme-making areas.

"Whilst these breaches represent a very small number of the programmes broadcast in the last two years, they indicate an underlying problem in non-news areas that management has failed to apply satisfactory editorial controls. This reinforces the Trust's request of July that the management structure in relation to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's editorial controls and compliance procedures be reviewed and that compliance models elsewhere in the industry should be examined as part of that process. This is underway.

"The connection of some serious editorial breaches with programmes designed to generate charitable giving is concerning and risks damaging the very charitable causes the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ supports. We have asked management to consider in particular how to improve editorial control and compliance of major fund-raising events to avoid fund-raising overtaking the imperatives of editorial standards.

"Some of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's most successful programmes in the past few years have demonstrated a public appetite for interaction. However that is not true of all programmes. Some of these cases arose simply because a winner was not forthcoming. The Trust has asked the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Executive to ensure that interactivity is not undertaken for its own sake and is only used where it serves a real purpose and enhances the programme or web content for the audience.

"This autumn the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Executive intends to resume certain competitions, particularly those with a long heritage and clearly popular with the public. The Trust has requested that a code of conduct be put in place before competitions are reintroduced which will assure the public that any competition run by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is fair to all entrants and that they comply with all regulatory requirements. The Trust has also requested that the Executive ensures that all competitions are signed off as compliant by senior management before they can be reintroduced.

"The Trust endorses the firm grip being taken by Mark Thompson which includes clear messages about what is expected of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ staff and, where appropriate, disciplinary proceedings. We are satisfied these steps, and others now underway will help to inspire confidence both inside and outside the Corporation that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ remains committed to its public service ethos. The Trust wishes to make clear to all the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's audiences – on radio, on television and online – that we are confident the vast majority of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ staff and suppliers work hard to provide fair, honest and accurate programmes.

"The Director-General will present his final report on his action plan to the Trust in January and will continue to report progress to the Trust's Editorial Standards Committee over the autumn. Thereafter an independent review will be undertaken on behalf of the Trust by Ronald Neil to assess the impact of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management's actions and changes to procedures so we can be sure the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ can and will comply with its own Editorial Guidelines and external regulation."

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