The Broadcasting Standards Review Process Is Clarified

I visited Ofcom’s new headquarters at Riverside house in London last Friday to find out a little more about their plans and priorities. Robin Foster and Ed Richards from Ofcom’s Strategy and Market developments policy group gave a presentation to various representatives and members of the public explaining what regulatory work Ofcom were planning between April 2004 and March 2005. Much of what was said can be found here:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/current/annual_plan/?a=87101

After this presentation the audience were given the opportunity to ask questions. When asked about work priorities Ed explained that the licensing review and the standards review projects were both running in parallel and that both projects were extensively interlinked. When questioned further about why the public were not being consulted over broadcasting standards until the summer, Ed replied that the broadcasting standards review project required a far greater amount of preparatory work than the licensing project. So although both projects were now active, the time between now and the summer was needed to construct a new draft standards code so that there would be a proposal to consult over.

Later that evening at a different venue a reliable source confirmed that Ofcom staff had been in detailed discussion with the BBFC regarding certain aspects of the BBFC’s own R18 classification at the end of January. This would tend to confirm what Ed Richards had said earlier, that the process of constructing the new draft broadcasting standards code is already underway.

It’s unfortunate that it is taking so long to get the broadcasting standards modernised. Hopefully the wait will be worth it and Ofcom will provide us with truly light touch, evidence based, proportionate, joined up regulation in the best interests of citizen-consumers. Early indications are good but only time will tell.

whilst some consumer complaints issues are obscured…

During discussion of a different question fellow citizen-consumer Peter Woods uncovered an unexpected gap in Ofcoms ability to deal with certain types of consumer complaint. When he asked about Ofcom’s new consumer panel, Ed Richards explained that the panel was largely independent from Ofcom and would champion the interests of consumers in all matters except those relating to broadcasting content. Further questions revealed that a separate body - the Ofcom content board - would have responsibility for considering all matters relating to broadcasting content, but the content board would not be readily accessible to members of the public. Although the Ofcom contact centre deal with complaints about breaches in broadcasting standards, the public have no ongoing means of redress when their complaints concern the broadcasting standards code itself. This is particularly unfortunate during a time when public debate about broadcasting standards should be encouraged.

The public consultation over broadcasting standards due this summer will be a very useful starting point, but it will be no more than a snap shot of public opinion. Citizen-consumers should be provided with a greater opportunity to contribute to the standards debate on an ongoing basis. Both Ed Richards and Robin Foster conceded this point and I will follow this up with the different branches at Ofcom in the coming weeks to try to resolve this issue. The broadcasting standards code will evolve over time and the public must be intimately involved with this process, indeed the broadcasting standard should be ‘owned’ by the public.