House of Commons - Broadcasting

Select Committee on Broadcasting First Report

1. Introduction

1. The rules of coverage were devised to ensure that the House retained control over how it was portrayed on television.[1] They are essentially guidelines for the camera operators and the television director setting out which shots may and may not be used, and what may and may not be shown. They provide specific guidelines for picture direction and instruction on how specific events, such as disorder, are to be treated.

2. The rules of coverage establish the broad principles the television director is expected to follow in selecting shots. They include a broad statement of objectives, intended to underpin any approach to televising the proceedings of the House. That says that the television director should have regard to the dignity of the House and to its function as a working body rather than a place of entertainment. The Director of Broadcasting is responsible for ensuring that the rules are observed as far as is possible.

3. In 1999, the broadcasters suggested to us changes to the rules of coverage. We made some minor changes to the rules in our First Report, Session 1999-2000.[2] In 2002, we decided to re-examine the issue and have drawn on the evidence taken for our inquiry in 1999. The broadcasters were invited to update their evidence on rules of coverage and the BBC submitted a further memorandum.[3] We also visited the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the Houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin where we had an opportunity to discuss their rules of coverage with parliamentarians, officials and broadcasters. We are grateful to all those who gave so freely of their time and expertise.

Previous recommendations and progress to date

4. Good progress has been made on the recommendations we made in 2000.[4] The recommendations in our Report covered a wide range of issues relating to parliamentary broadcasting.

· We were concerned that membership of both the Broadcasting Committee and the PARBUL[5] Board could lead to a conflict of interest.[6] The necessary changes have now been made to the membership of the PARBUL Broad to prevent such a conflict of interest arising.

· We noted that the Information Committee was considering providing coverage of the devolved legislatures on the internal video network.[7] Progress has been made in making the proceedings of the devolved legislatures available but at present there is no cost-effective means of providing coverage of the Scottish Parliament.

· We recommended that the broadcasting facilities in Westminster Hall be put on a more permanent footing if the sittings in Westminster Hall were made permanent.[8] A new camera system and control units were installed in Westminster Hall in 2001.

· We noted that the Administration Committee had approved an experiment that provided a live interview point within the Palace.[9] The number of live inject points[10] has since been increased and they are now available across the Parliamentary Estate. There has been a very positive reaction by Members, broadcasters and the viewing public to this innovation and we hope the arrangements will be made permanent.

· We also examined developments in webcasting.[11] A trial of webcasting has recently been completed and we look forward to this service being established on a permanent basis. We feel that webcasting has an important part to play in an integrated, interactive set of information services providing access to the general public.

5. Against these positive developments we must record a level of disappointment that access to a dedicated parliamentary channel is still limited.[12] We welcome the fact that the BBC Parliament service, formerly available only via satellite and cable, is also now carried on the new free digital terrestrial television service. However, we remain concerned that broadcasters continue to over-emphasise sound-bites and confrontation.

1 Select Committee on Televising of Proceedings of the House, First Report, Session 1988-89, Televising of Proceedings of the House, HC 141-1 Back

2 Broadcasting Committee, First Report, The Development of Parliamentary Broadcasting, Session 1999-2000, HC 642 Back

3 Ev 1 Back

4 Broadcasting Committee, First Report, The Development of Parliamentary Broadcasting, Session 1999-2000, HC 642 Back

5 Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit Ltd Back

6 Broadcasting Committee, First Report, The Development of Parliamentary Broadcasting, Session 1999-2000, HC 642, paragraph 30 Back

7 Ibid, para 54 Back

8 Ibid, para 57 Back

9 Ibid, para 65 Back

10 An inject point is a connection where broadcasters can connect their cameras and microphones and send the signals directly to their studios. Back

11 Broadcasting Committee, First Report, The Development of Parliamentary Broadcasting, Session 1999-2000, HC 642, paragraph 101 Back

12 Ibid, para 77 Back