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THE GUARDIAN
Monday, 27 August 1990
Impartiality code and licence fee under fire at Edinburgh television festival
Bias rules 'invite bland TV'
Georgina Henry
Media Editor
GOVERNMENT proposals to stiffen statutory requirements for broadcasters to make balanced and impartial programmes have been attacked by top programme makers as "a recipe for insipid broadcasting".
Liz Forgan, director of programmes at Channel Four, told the Edinburgh International Television Festival that the proposals would lead to a field day for lawyers and vexatious litigants. She said:
"They will not bring us fairer television. They will not serve the interests of the viewers. They will cut off bold polemic at the knees. They will nobble(sic) difficult journalism… They will take out the distinctive flavours and encourage a nice harmless mush of blandness."
The concern of broadcasters, debated at the weekend in a special session chaired by Sir David Steel MP, follows the Government's decision to amend the Broadcasting Bill to spell out the legal requirements for a new code on impartiality. This will be enforced by the Independent Television Commission, which will replace the IBA as regulator of commercial television.
The Home Office is reacting to pressure from Lord Wyatt, Lord Orr-Ewing, and Baroness Cox, who claim broadcasters are flouting existing rules on impartiality and are biased to the left. Charles Wheeler, the BBC's foreign correspondent, said: "The trouble with the quest for statutory impartiality is that it will lead not only to dull journalism, but to incoherent journalism. Everyone will have to be given equal time and equal prominence."
"Are we really moving into a world where a producer's right to deny air time to a charlatan is taken away?"
David Elstein, director of programmes at Thames, said programme makers must lobby the Home Office while it was still drawing up the amendment.
Michael Grade, chief executive of Channel Four, said the aim should be to ensure that the Home Office amendment left as much discretion as possible to the regulatory bodies and programme makers.
Ron Neil, managing director of BBC regional broadcasting, said Marmaduke Hussey, the BBC chairman, had written to the Home Office to express his concern.
Ms Forgan believed it was too late to do anything about the Government's plans to amend the bill, but said programme makers should ensure they were involved in drawing up the ITC code.
Sir David said changes made to the Bill in its progress through Parliament showed how successful lobbying by the industry could be.
Bruce Anderson, Sunday Telegraph deputy editor, said he was unused to being a moderate but he did not back the Wyatt/Orr-Ewing amendments. Mr Anderson, who believed broadcasters had been less biased recently, said they were over-reacting to the proposals.
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