Supplementary letter from the Guardian
Media Group
You kindly offered me the opportunity to investigate
and clarify the situation regarding an education supplement published
by the Guardian, an issue which you raised with me during my evidence
on 23 April 2008.
The supplement "14-19 reforms" appeared
in the Guardian on 6 March 2007 and was in fact clearly labelled—in
a banner running along the bottom of the front cover—as
being "in association with the Department for Education and
Skills", alongside a prominent DfES logo. The phrase "in
association with" is one traditionally used by newspapers
and broadcasters to describe financial support from a third-party
sponsor.
Sponsored supplements are a valued source of
revenue and allow the Guardian—and other newspapers—to
explore in more depth than editorial budgets would normally allow
topics the Guardian hope are of interest to readers. The Guardian
believes readers understand and appreciate this.
As it happens, later in 2007 the Guardian and
Observer voluntarily reviewed the presentation of commercially-led
editorial supplements with the aim of determining how they could
convey even more plainly to readers the precise terms of the relationship
with a sponsor. The result included a decision to place the sponsor's
logo and the words "in association with" at the top
of the front page. In addition, all sponsored supplements now
carry an "explainer" section on the front page stating
clearly who produced the supplement, who paid for it, and how
the brief was agreed.
A set of detailed guidelines for commissioning
editors, writers and sponsors was also drawn up. These were published
on the Guardian's website in September 2007 and a link for the
webpage (www.guardian.co.uk/supp-guidelines) is included in the
explainer section of every supplement so that interested readers
can find out exactly how a sponsor is involved with a supplement.
We believe the Guardian and the Observer are the only British
newspapers to make this process so transparent.
The guidelines make clear that while sponsors,
such as the DfES, can suggest themes and information they would
like to see included in a supplement, they cannot—once the
synopsis has been agreed—have any influence over content
until the final proofing stage, when they can check for factual
errors only.
The editor of the supplement—a member
of Guardian staff or a trusted freelance expert appointed by the
Guardian—is bound by the guidelines to ensure the content
contains balance (even where that might conflict with the views
of the sponsor). Writers are likewise instructed to produce their
articles exactly as they would for the main paper in the clear
understanding that the sponsor cannot interfere with the tone
or content of their work.
In all of this we believe the Guardian and Observer
go further than any other newspapers in setting down the rules
of engagement with sponsors of editorial content and in sharing
these rules with all parties, including readers.
I will be grateful if this letter could be made
available to the members of your Committee.
15 May 2008
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