Page 296 - Law and the Media

Professional Regulatory Bodies
It is perhaps for that reason that the broadcasting industry had no equivalent of the Press
Complaints Commission until 1981. Up to that time the BBC, the Independent Broadcasting
Authority (the governing body of independent television) and the Radio Authority each ran
their own complaints tribunal, the adjudications of which were usually printed in one or other
of the magazines produced by these organizations, in other words the TV Times or the
Listener.

However, in 1977 the Annan Committee on the Future of Broadcasting recommended the
establishment of a statutory body that would sit in public in order to investigate and decide
upon complaints from the public. The result in 1981 was the establishment of the
Broadcasting Complaints Commission (the ‘BCC’).

When the relevant legislation was passing through Parliament, a chorus of protest was heard
from the broadcasting industry. The proposed BCC was described variously as a ‘potential
monster’ (Colin Shaw, Deputy Director of the IBA), a ‘pain in the neck’ (Alasdair Milne,
Managing Director of BBC television), and a ‘threat to editorial enterprise’ (Sir Hugh
Greene, former Director General of the BBC). Despite the much-publicized fears of these
eminent broadcasters, the BCC did not have a major impact upon the industry in the powers
bestowed upon it by Parliament and in the way it exercised them.

A Broadcasting Standards Council was also established. This considered complaints about
the portrayal of violence and of sexual conduct, and about matters of taste and decency. It had
the same wide jurisdiction as the BCC.

In 1996, the BCC and the Broadcasting Standards Council were replaced. By Part V of the
Broadcasting Act 1996, the Broadcasting Standards Commission (the ‘BSC’) was
established. The BSC is an amalgamation of the BCC and the Broadcasting Standards
Council. It is the only organization created by United Kingdom legislation that covers all
television and radio broadcasting.

17.5.2 Function

The BSC’s function is to:

Produce codes of conduct relating to standards and fairness
Consider and adjudicate on complaints, and
Monitor, research and report on standards and fairness in broadcasting.

The jurisdiction of the BSC extends to all terrestrial and satellite television and radio
broadcasting, including text, cable and digital services in the United Kingdom. It therefore
has jurisdiction over BBC television, BBC radio, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, independent
radio, and all licensed cable and satellite programme services.
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