BBC ’swear quota’ gets journalists cursing
News anchors and other light entertainment performers will be limited to a fixed number of expletives in political interviews, BBC Plc has ruled.
The quota, announced in an internal memo obtained by the Financial Times, reflects a culture of ongoing unease at the BBC with the “steady decline in interest in Parliamentary reaction to legislation”, and the private sector education, health and security providers.
Though “values of impartiality, accuracy, and honesty” will still package news on core content streams, the memo said, “the BBC’s duty to reflect and clarify the public’s views is not well served by succumbing to widespread cynicism and disengagement.”
Its call for “more engaged, proactive, and ‘edgier’” coverage and “proportionate use of expletives” drew a hostile reaction from moral and artistic groups. Journalists said the plan was “a fucking disgrace.”
The changes were drawn up after confidential polling found that “the general public” was “the only stakeholder significantly out of step with British political life,” the memo said.
Broadcasters had a duty to show that party politics remained relevant, it concluded, by “increasing the salience of conflict and discord in political interviewing.”
A BBC source said the proposals had been modified after ministers accused the corporation of “cheap shock tactics”.
Although talent will still be allowed to “ad lib” profanities, producers will have to submit the total number to editors and interviewees prior to script run-throughs.
In addition to the overall quota, there are also limits on the types of expletive permitted, even after the 5.00 pm watershed.
While most four-letter words will be allowed in moderation, two have now been banned in all their variants. This last rule in particular has upset journalists, who imagined they’d still be free to set the tone of levels of deference, even if its substance was pre-defined. The new guidelines could turn viewers off, critics warn, not lure them as managers hope.
“How am I supposed to do my job of turning heads?” asked Russell Brand, the BBC’s premier interviewer. “I can live with not calling people liars, but who’ll still want to watch me if I can’t say cunt?”
