Radio

Arif Durrani, mediaweek.co.uk, 03 April 2009, 11:20am

BBC fined £150,00 over Russell Brand Sachs broadcast

LONDON - The BBC has been hit with a £150,000 fine for the "extraordinary nature and seriousness" of its failings in broadcasting Russell Brand's radio show, which "seriously infringed" the privacy of Andrew Sachs and daughter Georgina Baille.

Russell Brand: BBC fined over Sachs broadcast

In a ruling today (3 April), Ofcom said the radio show featuring Brand and guest Jonathan Ross, aired on BBC Radio 2 on the 18 and 25 October 2008, had broadcast "explicit, intimate and confidential" information about the pair without their consent.

The broadcast regulator concluded: "This not only unwarrantably and seriously infringed their privacy but was also gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning."

Ofcom did recognise broadcasters require "creative freedom" to explore issues and that creative risk forms part of the BBC's public service role, but stressed so is the management of that risk.

In this case, Ofcom's investigation revealed that despite the Russell Brand show being considered by the BBC to be "high risk" prior to these episodes, the broadcaster had ceded responsibility for managing some of that risk to those working for the presenter, Russell Brand.

In total, six underlying flaws in the BBC's compliance systems were identified, centring around the lack of clarity about the role of a senior figure (executive producer) at the agency representing Russell Brand; their training, and insufficient monitoring by BBC Audio and Music.

The BBC was also reprimanded for having no senior manager at Radio 2 listen to the pre-recorded programme on 18 October 2008 in its entirety before broadcast.

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All Comments

Nick Mazur - 03 April 2009

Not quite sure what the point of "fining" the BBC is, as the money will presumably come out of the money that licence-payers pay \(and therefore less money to spend on programming). Surely the £150k should come out of the salaries of those involved \(and I don't just mean Brand and Ross?)

Keith Geddes - 03 April 2009

Its just Ofcom needing to be seen to do something.. after all this time. Fines.. from what coffers to what other coffers? NO management editors listened to the prog before airing? Well, how daft and typical. Wossy and Brand are `trusted` to behave themselves and that happens. MORE heads should have rolled. Wossy and Brand should have been individually fined. THAT might have taken smiles off faces. BLAME THOSE that did it. Childish idiots. BOTH capable of better.