(b) The use made of the pictures
by the broadcasters
13. It will be seen from the guidelines which relate
to the use of the pictures in programmes (see Appendix
2) that the Committee never claimed to be able to exercise the
same degree of control here as it did over the form of
the pictures which are supplied by the broadcasting unit. The
Committee, however, thought it right to indicate which types of
programmes it felt to be inappropriate for the inclusion of extracts
from the House's proceedings.
14. Recommendations contained in a Select Committee
Report which has been approved by the House have, of course, the
same status as an Order of the House; disregard of an Order of
the House can, in certain circumstances, constitute a contempt
of the House. Whether a particular transgression fell into this
category would have to be determined on the facts of the case.
If the Committee took the view that a case warranted such serious
action as to require the use of the House's penal powers, the
proper course would be to bring the matter to the attention of
the House by means of a Special Report. Thereafter, the matter
would be out of the Broadcasting Committee's hands.
15. However, there are several courses of action
open to the Committee which fall short of contempt proceedings
but which have proved effective in the past. These include informal
reminders of the rules, formal letters of admonition, or the summoning
of named persons before the Committee (although the House will
wish to note that this latter course of action has never needed
to be taken).
(c) The use of archive material
for non-broadcast purposes
16. When the rules of coverage and the guidelines
for the use of the signals in programmes were first drawn up at
the beginning of the televising experiment, it was not anticipated
that there would be a significant demand for the use of material
from the broadcasting archives for non-broadcast purposes (other
than requests from Members for extracts from their speeches).
As the existence of such material became more widely known, however,
an increasing number of requests were received for access to the
archives. The intended uses of the extracts varied from straightforward
private viewing to the production of training and educational
videos. The Committee accordingly thought it necessary, in its
1990-91[10]
Report, to propose a separate set of guidelines for non-broadcast
purposes (see Appendix 3). The Supervisor of Parliamentary Broadcasting
monitors this aspect of the televising operation with particular
care and has the right to preview material if necessary.
8 Throughout this Report the phrase 'the Committee'
refers to the relevant Committee at the time, irrespective of
its title. Back
9
Select Committee on Televising of Proceedings of the House, First
Report Session 1988-89, HC (1988-89) 141-I. Back
10
First Report from the Broadcasting, Etc Select Committee, HC (1990-91)
11. Back