Controversial subjects
In the United Kingdom controversial subjects are issues of significance for the whole of the country, such as elections, or highly contentious new legislation on the eve of a crucial Commons vote, or a UK wide public sector strike.
In the nations and regions of the UK, controversial subjects are those which have considerable impact on the nation or region. They include political or industrial issues or events which are the subject of intense debate or relate to a policy under discussion or already decided by local government.
In the global context, some controversial subjects such as national elections or referendums will obviously have varying degrees of global significance but will be of great sensitivity in that country or region in which they are taking place. We should always remember that much of the BBC's output is now available in most countries across the world.
We must ensure a wide range of significant views and perspectives are given due weight in the period during which a controversial subject is active. Opinion should be clearly distinguished from fact. When the issues involved are highly controversial and/or a decisive moment in the controversy is expected we will sometimes need to ensure that all of the main views are reflected in our output. This may mean featuring them in a single programme, or even a single item.
BBC online sites covering controversial subjects may offer links to external sites which, taken together, represent a reasonable range of views about the subject. We should normally try to ensure that when we link to third party sites this does not give strong grounds for concern that this breaches the law or the BBC Editorial Guidelines on harm and offence.
Any approach by a government department to relay official messages or information films which involve a degree of public or political controversy must be referred to Chief Adviser Politics.