Impartiality in News Coverage: The Present and the Future

It can reasonably be expected that impartial news coverage can contribute significantly to the well-informed and active citizenry on which democracy is generally expected to thrive. In 2009 two issues developed which provide useful contexts in which to discuss questions of impartiality. The first was a specific illustration of the sort of issues that can arise, and concerned the BBC's reaction to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza. The second was related to questions over the extent to which the imposition of impartiality requirements on commercial Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs), and UK commercial broadcasters (non-PSB), were justifiable post-Digital Switch-over (DSO). In such circumstances, on what basis might regulatory interventions in pursuit of impartiality be justified? Before addressing these questions, it is first necessary to set-out the regulatory provisions, and their interpretation, on which existing requirements of impartiality are based in the UK. Keywords:BBC; commercial broadcasters (non-PSB); Digital Switch-over (DSO); Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC); impartiality; news coverage; Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs)