Referrals
In-house production departments and Independent production companies carry the main responsibility in the referral system. Content producers should refer first to their manager or editor and in the case of Independents to their BBC commissioning editor. The more important or contentious the issue, the higher the referral needs to be.
Editorial Policy should always be consulted on:
- mandatory referrals.
- queries on how to interpret the Editorial Guidelines.
- any proposal to step outside the Editorial Guidelines.
All mandatory referrals to Controller Editorial Policy are printed in red throughout these guidelines as well as being summarised near the beginning of each section. Other referrals to Editorial Policy, senior editorial figures in the divisions, commissioning editors for Independents and other relevant representatives are shown in bold. The specific referral procedure for each division and for Independents is available online at www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/.
Any request from output areas outside BBC News for interviews with, or exclusive appearances by, members of the Royal Family must be discussed with the BBC's Royal Liaison Officer.