The importance of ensuring blobbing is effective has been underlined by a recent Ofcom adjudication on Nurseries Undercover .
Using blobbing to disguise identity needs care to consider whether people will be unrecognisable to just the wider public or also to those who already know them.
Attention should be paid to other information in a programme, including any visual and audio clues, that may create a jigsaw of identification even though the contributor is disguised.
How easily can you recognise people who have been blobbed? Test yourself with the Blobbed Celebrity Quiz here!
Click here to read a summary of the discussion on Blobbing at the latest Editorial Policy Meeting. (Link to internal BBC site)
We are in the concluding stages of agreeing a policy with other broadcasters on content labelling….the information that will help ‘on demand' audiences decide whether a programme is suitable for them or their children to watch.
The system is known as “G for Guidance” and has been developed by the BBC, led by Editorial Policy, over the past three years. It can be seen in Channel 4's PC on demand service, 4OD, launched this month.
Programme makers at the recent Editorial Policy Roadshows have been seeking clarification about consent when filming GVs.
Consent is usually required when we feature people in our programmes. We would not normally expect to require consent to show anyone filmed in a public place, as part of a general scene or set of non-specific images, as long as the camera was visible and in the open and they are not shown in an activity that is inherently private. Care should still be taken to avoid anything that might cause undue embarrassment.
Dates have been confirmed for the Editorial Policy monthly meetings in 2007. The meetings are open to all within the BBC and include practical, interactive discussion of topical Ed Pol issues. Click here to see the dates for 2007. (Link to internal BBC site)
The Editorial Policy Roadshow has now visited Cardiff and Belfast , hosting a range of sessions on relevant issues for all staff, freelancers and Indies . After the Christmas holidays, the Roadshow will be calling at Manchester and Plymouth.
If you would like to attend, or hold a Roadshow in your regional centre, contact Paul Smith.
