Free or discounted products, services or facilities

Transcription

1 Guidance Note Free or discounted products, services or facilities Issued: September 0 Status of Guidance Note This Guidance Note, authorised by the Managing Director, is provided to assist interpretation of the Editorial Policies to which the Guidance Note relates. The Editorial Policies contain the standards enforceable under the ABC s internal management processes and under the ABC s complaints handling procedures. It is expected the advice contained in Guidance Notes will normally be followed. In a given situation there may be good reasons to depart from the advice. This is permissible so long as the standards of the Editorial Policies are met. In such situations, the matter should ordinarily be referred upwards. Any mandatory referrals specified in Guidance Notes must be complied with. Key Editorial Standards Excerpts of key editorial standards relevant to this Guidance Note are set out below. Other editorial standards may also be relevant, depending on the specific circumstances applying in each case. Advertising and sponsorship restrictions. Product placement and other forms of embedded or surreptitious advertising are prohibited. In exceptional cases, the ABC may use content that already contains product placement provided: a the ABC played no role in the commissioning or production of the content; b the content has intrinsic editorial value; c the product placement is not unduly frequent or unduly prominent; and d the ABC s editorial independence and integrity are not undermined. Commercial references. References to trade names, brand names, and logos may be made provided that: a the references are editorially relevant in the context; and b the ABC s editorial independence or integrity is not undermined.. Commercial references must not be unduly frequent or unduly prominent.. Take particular care to minimise commercial references in content designed for children.. Do not state or imply that the ABC endorses any commercial organisation, product or service. External funding and relationships. Free or discounted products, services or facilities may be accepted to support the creation of content provided that:

2 a there is no obligation imposed on or accepted by the ABC to structure or present any matter with a particular editorial perspective; b prior approval is obtained from an appropriately senior ABC person designated for the purpose; c the independence and integrity of the ABC are fully protected; and d accurate records are kept of what is accepted... Ensure appropriate disclosure of any external funding arrangement, and any acceptance of free or discounted products, services or facilities, where the arrangement or acceptance, if it were not disclosed but later became public, may reasonably be perceived to distort the editorial content or otherwise undermine the ABC s independence or integrity. Mandatory referral In Television, offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be approved by the Director of Television. In News, offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be referred to the Head of Policy, and then approved by the Director of News. In Radio, offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be approved by the Manager of the relevant network. In Innovation, offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be referred to the Editor, abc.net.au, and then approved by the Director of Innovation. In ABC International, offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be approved by the Chief Executive of Radio Australia or the Chief Executive of Australia Network. In Commercial, offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be referred to the Manager of the relevant business unit. Scope of this guidance note This guidance note relates to free or discounted products, services or facilities that are offered to, or sought by, the ABC or its co-production partners, specifically to support the creation of content. It does not apply to offers that are unrelated to content such as gifts or hospitality for purely personal use (refer to the ABC s corporate policies, including those relating to conflict of interest and gifts and hospitality). Introduction Seeking to use, or being offered, free or discounted products, services or facilities is standard practice in some parts of the media as a method to secure support for content from companies, organisations or individuals. This method offers costsavings for productions, as well as at times providing access to specialised products or services which might not normally be available. A clear exception to this practice is in relation to the reporting of news and current affairs, where free or discounted products, services or facilities would in general neither be sought nor accepted. ABC Editorial Policies

3 If a free or discounted product appears in broadcast or published content in a manner which clearly identifies a commercial brand, it may amount to, or be perceived as advertising or imply endorsement by, or an association with, the ABC, a particular program or presenter. Any such reference must be editorially relevant in the context and must not be unduly frequent or prominent and comply with the Editorial Policies, notably section (Advertising and sponsorship restrictions) and section (Commercial references). The acceptance of free or discounted products, services or facilities is not product placement which is defined in the Glossary as an arrangement where placement or use of goods or services is guaranteed to a supplier in an item of content or program, usually for consideration. Product placement is prohibited in ABC or co-produced content and, other than in exceptional cases, acquired content see editorial standard.. In order to ensure the ABC s independence and integrity are protected, a high level of scrutiny must apply to any acceptance of free or discounted products, services or facilities for ABC or co-produced content. Free or discounted products may include: props or set dressing such as cars or furniture; costumes or wardrobe items; or equipment such as computers, phones or cameras. Free or discounted services or facilities may include: travel or accommodation such as airfares, vehicle hire or hotel bookings; access which may involve specialist facilities such as helicopters or scuba diving services; translation services; post-production or online facilities; or venues and other in-kind community support associated with participation in community outside broadcasts (OBs) or activities. Review and approval process Divisions are required to review any offer of free or discounted products, services or facilities, including offers sought by, or made to, co-production partners. This review must be undertaken to ensure that the ABC s editorial independence and integrity are protected in accepting the offer. Records must be kept of the decision-making process to ensure that an investigation of the receipt of any product, service or facility can be undertaken. Consider the answers to these questions and make a judgement whether the ABC s independence and integrity can be fully protected if the product, service or facility were to be accepted (see editorial standard.): Is any interest of the supplier canvassed directly or indirectly in the project s content? What is the nature of that interest? Is it commercial or non commercial? Is it political, sectional (i.e. that of an interest or lobby group) or personal? Will the content, scheduling, publication or scale of the project be influenced by the supplier? Or could there be a perception of influence? How will the product, service or facility be used by the project? Will it be referenced on air or online and if so, how? ABC Editorial Policies

4 It may be that acceptance needs to be conditional or limited to only part of what is on offer. Editorial Managers must be confident when recommending that an offer be accepted by the ABC or by a co-producer, that content which includes representation of the free or discounted product, service or facility complies with sections and of the Editorial Policies and could not be perceived as an impermissible promotion or advertising for the product, service, facility or the supplier or any form of ABC endorsement. In Television this review is managed through the Free and Discounted Editorial Checklist which details the offer and scrutinises the relationship between the supplier and the content. In terms of considering an offer, Editorial Managers need to document the subject matter of their project and how they applied the above questions to their project. Approval to accept free or discounted products, services or facilities may occur at any time during the production or post-production cycle. Whenever the offer is made, approval must be sought through the Checklist and submitted to the Television Commissioning meeting for formal approval, even if the production has already been commissioned. In News, the general approach is that there will be no acceptance of free or discounted products services or facilities unless: (a) they represent the only reasonable means of covering an editorially significant story. For example, a free place on a Minister s plane could be accepted in order to travel to the scene of a major disaster when normal transport is not available in a timely fashion, but free travel or accommodation from a company or Government would not be accepted simply to facilitate coverage of a newsworthy event or to reduce costs to the ABC; or (b) where media conference or similar facilities (including the provision of lighting and audio) have been provided to all media without restriction to allow coverage of a news conference, speech or announcement or to facilitate an interview or general media picture opportunity. In relation to (b) above, the News Division has a standing approval in place acknowledging that the acceptance of the use of such media conference facilities is normal industry practice and neither approval nor disclosure is required. In all other circumstances, where it is proposed to seek any such assistance or accept any such offer, the matter must be referred to the Head of Policy and approval sought from the Director of News. In Radio, any proposal to seek assistance or accept an offer of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be submitted on the Free and Discounted Services (F&DS) form and referred to the relevant network manager for approval. In News and Radio any such request for approval would be expected to set out the basis on which it is argued that the acceptance does not, in the particular circumstances, lead to any real or perceived distortion of the editorial content or risk to the independence and integrity of the ABC. In Innovation all offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities should be reviewed against the criteria identified above. Offers must be referred to the Editor, abc.net.au and approved by the Director of Innovation. In ABC International, offers of free or discounted products, services or facilities must be approved by the Chief Executive of Radio Australia or the Chief Executive of ABC Editorial Policies

5 Australia Network. Radio Australia is a non-commercial network and will consider offers in that context. In the case of Australia Network, its commercial status and contractual obligations will be taken into consideration, while maintaining the integrity of the ABC. In Commercial, all requests must be reviewed against the relevant key editorial standards. Disclosure Disclosing the receipt of free or discounted products, services or facilities helps to protect the ABC s editorial independence and integrity. The ABC cannot however offer a provider an on air or published reference in exchange for a free or discounted product, service or facility as this would compromise ABC integrity and independence. It is recognised that the nature of a platform can affect judgements made in particular circumstances. To illustrate: while Television can use images and text to handle disclosure appropriately, Radio is limited to sound, and this can have the effect of making a simple and permissible disclosure or credit seem like an impermissible promotion. In Television, there is a requirement for suppliers of free or discounted products, services or facilities to be acknowledged on air or online. This acknowledgement (which is usually in the form of a text credit) should not be gratuitous or promotional, but simply provide information on what was supplied and by whom. (Refer to editorial standard. and the Credits Guidance Note). In News, acknowledgements will be by way of information only. Each proposal should include consideration as to whether or not disclosure is appropriate. Agreement of any on air or online acknowledgement will be determined at the point of approving the acceptance of the free or discounted goods, services or facilities. In general, if the acceptance of free or discounted services is limited to simply accessing general media conference facilities which have been made available in an unrestricted way to all media (as discussed in the Review and approval section above), disclosure would not be required. In Radio, acknowledgements will be by way of information only. Each proposal should include consideration as to whether or not disclosure is appropriate. Agreement of any on air or online acknowledgement will be determined at the point of approving the acceptance of the free or discounted goods, services or facilities. In Innovation, each proposal to accept the supply of free or discounted products, services or facilities should include consideration as to whether or not disclosure is appropriate. The acknowledgement if published should not be promotional, but simply provide information on what was supplied and by whom. In ABC International, acknowledgements of suppliers of free or discounted products, services or facilities to Radio Australia will be by way of information only. Each proposal should include consideration as to whether or not disclosure is appropriate. Agreement of any on air or online acknowledgement will be determined at the point of approval. Suppliers of free or discounted products, services or facilities to Australia Network should be acknowledged on air or online. This acknowledgement (which is usually in the form of a text credit) should take into account Australia Network s commercial status and contractual obligations, while maintaining the integrity of the ABC. ABC Editorial Policies

6 For Commercial, acknowledgements will not be given undue prominence. For example, in magazines, the disclosure of any products used in a photo shoot is to be made in the gutter, as per standard magazine practice. Where free or discounted travel has been received, clear disclosure is to be provided at the end of the article. ABC Editorial Policies

7 ABC Editorial Policies

8 ABC Editorial Policies