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Dec 23, 2009, 3:24am

The BBC’s Charter and its Producers Guidelines state:...“Due impartiality lies at the heart of the BBC. All programs and services should be open minded, fair and show a respect for truth… [BBC reports should] contain comprehensive, authoritative and impartial coverage of news and current affairs in the United Kingdom and throughout the world…” How does the BBC measure up to its charter?

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BBC asks top writer to take course on drama
« Thread Started on Nov 8, 2009, 9:49pm »

With their proverbial heads so far up their behinds there's no light to be found anymore here's a few examples of the more ludicrous decisions the BBC are making.

What a crock! ::)

Quote:

BBC asks top writer to take course on drama
An award-winning playwright who has written some of television’s most popular dramas was sent on a course by the BBC to understand how to portray “goodies” and “baddies”.

By Caroline Gammell
Published: 1:00PM GMT 01 Nov 2009

Tony Marchant, who wrote the acclaimed series Holding On, was told to complete the module which explained the relevance of facial expressions and tone of voice.

The move was seen as another example of the BBC stifling creativity in the name of compliance, in the wake of the Andrew Sachs furore when Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand made prank calls to the actor.

Marchant, 50, was asked to sit the Corporation’s online interactive Safeguarding Trust Factual Drama module as he worked on his new drama Garrow’s Law.

The winner of a Bafta award for services to television was given advice which included: “Don’t oversimplify the ‘goodies’ and the ‘baddies’… the truth is rarely as cut and dried as this.”

He was also told: “Tone of voice and facial expression can significantly alter what an audience infers about a character.”

Marchant said he was nonplussed by having to complete the test.

“The module is a complete nonsense and proof that the compliance culture is out of control at the BBC,” he told a Sunday newspaper.

“I was baffled when I was asked to do it and still can’t see the point of it.”

Last week, the BBC was criticised for being too politically sensitive after it removed an episode of the political show The Week from its online iPlayer.

Presenter Andrew Neil had referred to his co-hosts Diane Abbott and Michael Portillo as "the chocolate Hobnob and custard cream of late-night telly".

The BBC cancelled a repeat of the episode and erased it from its online iPlayer for fear of being accused of racism.

It recently rebuked the satirical panel show Mock the Week for insulting Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington, after it said she resembled "someone who's looking at themselves in the back of a spoon".

The comedian Frankie Boyle, who was chastised, said the BBC had adopted a “don't frighten the horses" approach to comedy

Last month, the BBC was accused of a "ludicrous" over-reaction when it drew up guidelines suggesting that comedies featuring scenes of "intimidation, humiliation, intrusion, aggression and derogatory remarks" could be outlawed.

Yesterday a BBC spokesman defended its compliance policy and said everyone from the director general down had to take the courses relevant to them.

"Editorial guidelines have always existed at the BBC and across the broadcasting industry and this is nothing new.

"We have taken action to strengthen parts of our guidelines after a few unacceptable failures in editorial judgement and compliance, but creative risk taking remains alive and well at the BBC, and it is quite possible to take creative risks whilst maintaining acceptable standards."

Earlier this year, John Simpson, the BBC's world affairs editor criticised the BBC's obsession with health and safety, calling it "nonsense".

Simpson said he had to fill in a BBC risk assessment form "the size of a telephone directory" before filming his 'Top Dog' series with Robin Knox Johnston and Ranulph Fiennes.

Simpson said of the hazard assessment form: "It tells me 'You may bang your head, you may trip over, you may hurt this and that.'

"And of course 'You might drown.' But what the Hell? I mean, to every man upon this earth death cometh sooner or later".

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