BBC Trust

The Trust held a seminar on impartiality and economic reporting on 6 November 2012. The purpose was to review how the BBC can ensure its news coverage of economics issues reflects the full range of views and voices and, for example, avoids giving undue weight to specific institutional perspectives.

In a review of BBC governance led by the BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten, published in July 2011, the Trust committed to strengthening its work in ensuring that the BBC’s standards of impartiality are being met - and are seen to be being met. As part of this the Trust announced the introduction of regular impartiality seminars that look at emerging and current topics. Unlike the existing impartiality reviews carried out by the Trust, these would not be based on reviews of BBC output, but would instead enable the BBC to consider how to approach current and topical issues, which pose difficulties for programme makers, with due impartiality.