The Stage

BBC’s Thompson suspends all phone-ins and tackles deception

Published Wednesday 18 July 2007 at 17:15 by Matthew Hemley

Phone-in competitions across the BBC’s television and radio output have been suspended after further breaches of editorial standards were discovered following the Blue Peter scandal.

Director general Mark Thompson has announced a “package of tough measures” to address the discovery of the breaches, which include the programmes Children in Need and The Liz Kershaw Show on BBC 6 Music.

Earlier this year, the BBC admitted it had invited a child visiting the studio to pose as a caller to a competition when the show experienced problems with its phone lines.

On top of suspension of all competitions from midnight tonight, the BBC will introduce a new training programme for all programme and content staff to “emphasise the absolute imperative to understand and comply with all the BBC’s values and editorial standards”.

Thompson said: “It is right that we are open with the public when we have fallen short and we demonstrate that we take this very seriously indeed. The behaviour of a small number of production staff who have passed themselves off as viewers and listeners must stop. We must now swiftly put our house in order.”

Addressing the entire BBC staff this afternoon in an internal BBC broadcast, he added: “If you have a choice between deception and a programme going off air, let the programme go. It is far better to accept a production problem and make a clean breast to the public than to deceive.”

His comments come after it emerged a member of the production team on Comic Relief had posed as a caller when people phoning in to enter a competition were lost.

In pre-recorded programmes of The Liz Kershaw Show, presented as if they were live, a competition was announced which appeared to feature genuine listeners phoning in to take part. The callers were actually members of production team and their friends.

The BBC said some editorial leaders will be asked to “stand back from their duties” pending reviews of “why it took so long for a number of historical incidents to come to light”.