Privacy and Injunctions - Evidence - Parliament

ITN—Written evidence
of privacy that they are not filmed, for example, whilst out shopping or relaxing
in a park?
This is a question specifically for Channel 4.
6. Are commissioning editors able to act against the advice of internal
compliance teams? Are there repercussions if there is then a complaint?
The compliance team’s role is to advise on the law and industry regulations.
At ITN, the compliance team and the editorial team work together to ensure that the laws
and industry regulations are respected. The compliance and editorial team will discuss
compliance/legal issues and use legal and editorial judgement to reach an appropriate line to
be taken in an editorial report to ensure compliance with the industry regulations and law.
7. Would it be beneficial for commissioning editors to have an external body
from which they could seek pre-transmission advice on privacy issues?
ITN does not believe it will be beneficial for commissioning editors to seek advice on privacy
issues. We are not aware of evidence in television news that warrants the setting up of such
a body. The present system works well.
We also would in principle be against such an external body. It is important that news
organisations make their own editorial decisions and are responsible for them. In addition,
the setting up of such a body would be against the traditions within news that support the
independence of news organisations from state/public organisations on pre-publication
issues.
Ofcom has traditionally not played a role in pre-publication advice on editorial content. We
believe the system works well. It would set an undesirable precedent if Ofcom or a
regulatory body were to be given this pre-publication advisory role and our experience in
the broadcast media is that there is not evidence to warrant it.
News reporting plays an important role as a check and balance on issues on public and
political life and the editorial control and the independence of news organisations needs to
be protected.
It should also be emphasised that, historically, our jurisdiction has also not allowed prior
restraint of the media except in limited circumstances and public bodies have not been
tasked to play a role in advising on or making quasi-editorial decisions prior to publication.
8. Should there be a higher threshold for holding that Article 8 privacy is
engaged? Is it a problem for the BBC and other broadcasters that the courts
have sometimes protected anodyne information?
ITN has not encountered problems regarding Article 8 and the protection of anodyne
information. As stated above, ITN’s reporting is not focused on celebrities or the lives of
public figures unless there is a genuine public interest. In terms of the threshhold to be
applied, we believe the terms set out in the Ofcom Code are fair and reasonable.
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