S.L. 350.14 Art. 13

Interviews 13.1 Interviews 13.1.1 Interviewees dealing with political or industrial controversy or current public policy should be made adequately aware of the format, subject matter and purpose of the programme to which they have been invited to contribute and the way in which their contribution is likely to be used. The broadcaster shall retain that part of the interview where s/he has sought the consent of the interviewee to record the interview. A station has to retain a recording of that interview for a period of three months from the date that the interview or part thereof is recorded. During these three months the Broadcasting Authority Chief Executive shall have the right to request the station to submit to him the recordings so that they can be verified and, should it be the case, to take the necessary measures if there is a lack of compliance with the Requirements mentioned above in this paragraph.

13.1.2 Interviewees should also be informed of the identity and intended role of other proposed participants in the programme, as soon as the persons are known. 13.1.3 On occasion, proposed interviewees will be unable or unwilling to accept an invitation to participate in a programme. This need not cancel the programme. Reference to the absence of such a spokesperson should be referred in as detached and factual a manner as possible and the presenter should as far as practicable make known the absent interviewee’s or his or her organisation’s views on the subject under discussion, where known. 13.1.4 Where the subject consents to being interviewed for a different purpose from that covertly intended by the producers of a news programme, the use of such material without the subject’s permission can only be justified if it is necessary in order to make an important point of public interest. 13.1.5 Impromptu interviews with public figures and people in the news are a normal and usually unproblematic part of news gathering. There are, however, occasions when a reporter confronts and records a potential interviewee without prior arrangement on private property or locations such as restaurants, churches and other places where the subject would reasonably expect personal privacy. The use of such interviews should however be generally a last resort and should be guided by two main aspects: i. the investigation involves crime or serious anti-social behaviour and/or ii. the subject so being interviewed has failed to respond to a repeated request to be interviewed, refused an interview on unreasonable grounds or has a history of such failure or refusal. 13.1.6 Particular care needs to be taken where the person [

approached is not the subject of the allegations, for example a relative, friend or associate, to avoid the risk of unwarranted invasion of their privacy.

13.2 Editing of Interviews 13.2.1 Impartiality and fairness also apply to the editing of interviews. Editing of recorded interviews must not be distorted as to create misrepresentation of the known view of the interviewee.

13.2.2 Interviews held on library tapes should be checked before use to see whether the views expressed are still valid, and where necessary captioned to show the date when the original interview was recorded. 13.3 Recorded Telephone Interviews

13.3.1 Interviews or conversations conducted by telephone should not normally be recorded for inclusion in a programme unless the interviewer has identified himself or herself as speaking on behalf of a licensee or a broadcaster, and has informed the interviewee that the conversation is being recorded, and the interviewee has given consent to the use of the conversation in news bulletins or current affairs programmes. The broadcaster shall air that part of the interview where s/he has sought the consent of the interviewee to record the interview. 13.3.2 In investigative journalism, there may be occasions, such as those involving investigation of allegedly criminal or otherwise disreputable behaviour, when these normal requirements cannot be observed.

13.3.3 When, in the considered judgement of the journalist/ producer, such a case arises, he or she must obtain the explicit consent of a broadcaster’s most senior programme executive in the newsroom, before such material is broadcast in a programme.

SECTION 14 Discussion Programmes