TV and Radio Compliance Consultant
As the manager at Ofcom who headed its 2016 Offensive language research, I wanted to make a few points about the regulator’s (now) controversial decision to breach the Family At War 1970-2 drama series shown on Talking Pictures TV for a… Continue
As consultant with leading West End media firm, Simons Muirhead, I was privileged last night to be invited on to both the Al Jazeera Arabic and English services (see picture) to seek to explain the great Al Arabiya mystery. Why… Continue
With Ofcom fining the Al Arabiya channel a whopping £120,000 in January 2018 it is more essential than ever for broadcasters to know what to do to avoid an Ofcom sanction. The first and obvious thing is to have good… Continue
Although there is one Ofcom Code breach in today’s Broadcast Bulletin (22 January 2018) I wanted to talk about briefly, I thought I would break with tradition by first saying a few words about an interesting article in The Times… Continue
“To edit or not to edit, that is the question” is an issue often faced by standards compliance advisers. But it is rarely a more vexed point than in old films and TV programmes containing language considered acceptable at the… Continue
Clients regularly ask me about how best to handle Ofcom time deadlines. Here’s what you need to know. When starting a standards investigation or asking for information, Ofcom sets deadlines. These are to help ensure Ofcom meets its Key Performance… Continue
If more evidence were needed that Ofcom is serious in its determination to improve diversity and equal opportunities in the broadcasting industry, look no further than the latest Broadcast Bulletin (published 16 December 2017). It contains a Note to the… Continue
Lord Terry Burns (whose appointment as the new Ofcom chairman was formally announced on 14 December 2017) will be Ofcom’s fourth chair – after Lord David Currie, Colette Bowe and Dame Patricia Hodgson. What difference (if any) might his appointment… Continue
There is another clear example in Ofcom’s latest Bulletin (published 4 December 2017) of why the 9pm watershed is just that – a watershed and not a waterfall. This time is was Sky1 which fell foul of Rule 1.6 (“the… Continue