New report calls for 'sea change' in BBC journalism

An investigation into the state of BBC journalism has concluded that its news staff should be given more training and a stronger sense of core values.



The Neil report, commissioned by the BBC, also sets out new rules on how to report news stories which come from a single source, and on the importance of fairness and accurate note-taking.

The independent inquiry recommends that the BBC should set up a journalism college, and ensure that all its reporters, presenters and producers attend regularly to learn from past mistakes.

The BBC's board of governors has accepted the report's findings and promised to implement them in full.

The corporation commissioned the Neil investigation in February, after the BBC was condemned by Lord Hutton's report into the death of Dr David Kelly, a Ministry of Defence weapons expert.

Lord Hutton criticised a broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme, in which the defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan claimed - on the basis of a single, unnamed source, whose words he had not noted down in detail - that the Government had deliberately lied in the dossier setting out the case for war on Iraq.

After a witchhunt, the source was later identified as Dr Kelly, who went on to commit suicide.

Both the Director-General of the BBC and the chairman of its board of governors resigned after Lord Hutton's damning report on the affair was published.

Afterwards, Mark Byford, the acting Director-General, set up an independent panel headed by Ronald Neil, a former director of news and current affairs at the BBC, to "examine the editorial issues for the BBC raised by the Hutton inquiry" and "identify the learning lessons and make appropriate recommendations".

The panel also included Richard Tait, a former editor-in-chief of ITN, and a number of current BBC editorial executives.

The Neil report says: "As the largest employer of journalists in the UK, the BBC has an obligation to take the lead in strenthening training in craft skills, and promoting debate about journalistic standards and ethics and broadcasting."

It concludes that this would require a "sea change in approach," with the setting up of a journalism college and a shift towards proper training and career development.

The report also recommends that:


Stories from a single anonymous source should only be used if they are of significant public interest. The programme editor must assess how credible the source is, and the audience must be told why the source is not named.


All BBC journalists must be trained in how to take notes


Producers and presenters must understand that it is up to them to maintain the BBC's core values of truth and accuracy, impartiality, independence, accountability and serving the public interest.


If the BBC reports claims of wrong-doing it must make clear who is making the allegation, and the accused must be given the right of reply.


Lawyers in the newsroom should vet the content of stories

Today Mr Neil paid tribute to BBC journalism, adding: "Setting out to improve, strengthen and learn from the experience of life's events when they go wrong is a proper ambition. It is a stance of strength, not weakness."

Mark Thompson, the new Director-General, said: "The BBC does not have the public's trust as of right; it has to earn and maintain it. The Neil report will enable us to do this, highlighting what we do well and what we could do better."

Richard Sambrook, the director of BBC News, welcomed the Neil report's "very constructive" conclusions, and said that they would be implemented rapidly.

In a statement, the board of governors said: "The Neil report's recommendations will lead to substantial changes in how the BBC will execute its commitment to impartial and fair journalism."

In a separate response to criticism elsewhere in the Hutton report, the BBC has radically reformed the way it handles complaints.

The corporation plans to publish a summary of all the changes it has made since the Hutton inquiry in its annual report and accounts for 2003/04, due out in mid-July.