Home | Impartiality | Accuracy | Fairness | Respect | Independence

	Introduction   Interviewing: Kelly Shephard   Dealing with contributors: Ben Sutherland   Upholding privacy: Beatriz Gomez   Zimbabwe: Joseph Winter   Uzbekistan: Pahlavon Turgunov   On Mr Milosevic: Geraldine Coughlan   Safeguarding children in Africa: Valerie Msoka   Reflecting the Afghan people: Asif Maroof   Covering 9/11: Stephen Cviic   Bugging and recording   Anonymity   Paedophiles and identification   Accessing untransmitted material		Contributors to programmes have a right to know: what a programme is about; if they are taking part in a debate or discussion, the range of views to be represented; who the other participants will be; whether their contribution will be live or recorded, and whether it will be edited. Dealing with contributors in the Africa Live! radio programme - by Ben Sutherland, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World Service New Media It's important to let your contributors know what you want from them - as much for your own benefit as for theirs. They don't want to look like fools and you don't want to end up with a load of dead air. On the BBC World Service's Africa Live! programme, getting good responses from guests can be educational, informative and entertaining - a perfect culmination of the BBC's values. Informing contributors We always bear in mind that many of the most infamous moments of pure broadcasting hell have come from contributors either caught totally cold by what is coming, or who have misunderstood what the programme they are appearing on is about. Umming and ahhing - or plain irrelevance - does not make great radio. Much of this is common sense - you wouldn't, after all, get a bunch of experts on the Middle East together and then start expertly probing them about tennis. If the interview is pre-recorded and is to be edited, or written up online, you have tremendous power - the quotes you use could either make your guest(s) look incredibly sharp or ridiculously stupid. Representing interviewees fairly It's important then to give an accurate representation of what was said - you don't want them afterwards blaming the BBC for making them look like a complete fool in front of millions. Live broadcasting does not allow this luxury. You must remember that what is said is what goes out - and this is becoming ever more important with the BBC's drive towards interactivity. On Africa Live!, all phone-in guests are asked beforehand what they want to say. This is essential to avoid them spouting nonsense, swearing or - worst case scenario - libelling someone. Should they do that, the BBC is to blame, not the contributor.

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