BBC Ethics for the Child Protection

Abstract

The aim of the study is to outline the concept of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) editorial policy on covering problematic issues of journalistic related to children, production of content specifically intended or likely to be available to minors, and other possible forms of direct or indirect interaction between media professionals and children.

Research methods. The research was made possible by conducting a traditional (content-related) analysis of documents on journalistic ethics of the BBC, in which relevant issues of editorial policy were raised, and of historiographical sources of the scientific problem. Previously, inquiry and research work was carried out to establish appropriate documents. Therefore, through synthesis of the analyzed material, the stated aim was achieved.

Results. The article presents a body of current editorial documents of the BBC, which regulate the activities of journalists in various forms of interaction with children. As a result of the historiographical literature study, the origins of the BBC editorial policy on the so-called “children’s issue” are briefly considered. The content of current documents is analyzed, in particular, such as the BBC Editorial Guidelines, the BBC Child Protection Policy, the BBC Code of Conduct, the BBC Guide to Working with Children, etc. Emphasis is placed on that norms of BBC ethics on children, which are potentially most important for Ukrainian journalism. The research established the values which are the basis of the BBC editorial policy on child protection.

Novelty. With this research, the moral imperatives of the BBC on children will complement journalistic ethics as a field of knowledge in which the relevant scientific problem has not yet been properly developed.

Practical importance. The research will contribute to the formation of journalistic morality on children as a specific audience and a distinctive source of information. For the same purpose, the study can be used in further scientific research in the field of journalistic ethics.

Key words: journalistic ethics, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), child / children, BBC Editorial Guidelines, media, journalism.