48 hours’ notice may be enough

As little as two working days to respond to a broadcaster’s allegations may be sufficient to give a company “an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond”.

Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code requires that if a programme makes significant allegations, those concerned should normally be given an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond (para. 7.11). In what seems at first blush a surprising decision, Ofcom decided that only two working days had given a company (that was the subject of criticisms in Watchdog) enough time to respond, despite Watchdog’s own editorial policy of giving five days’ notice. In fact, on closer examination, Ofcom’s conclusion is understandable, given its explanation of the particular circumstances, namely:

• the criticisms that were to be made in Watchdog followed an edition of Whistleblower that had been broadcast seven days earlier;
• the company had responded to the criticisms made in Whistleblower by a written statement;
• the company’s solicitors had re-sent the statement prepared in respect of Whistleblower to the BBC without answering all the questions posed by Watchdog; and
• although two working days might not have given the company enough time to arrange for its Chief Executive to attend a live Watchdog interview, it was open to the company to put forward another spokesperson.

Usually, two working days would not be enough notice to ensure compliance with Ofcom’s Code but this ruling emphasises that careful consideration needs to be given to the particular circumstances in each case. While Watchdog’s policy of giving only five days’ notice may be explained on the basis that it is a “magazine-style” current affairs programme, consisting of a number of short pieces, for a “single issue” documentary, such as Whistleblower or Dispatches, a company should be given a much longer period to comply with the Code.

Further reading:

Ofcom's Broadcasting Code