|
The study used five categories to evaluate the news outlets:
|
Corrections: Willingness to openly correct mistakes.
|
Ownership: Openness about corporate ownership.
|
Staff Policies: Openness about conflicts of interest.
|
Reporting Policies: Openness about editorial guidelines.
|
| Interactivity: Openness to reader comments and criticism. |
|
|
Excellent |
|
Very Good |
|
Average |
|
Poor |
|
Not Acceptable |
|
|
 |
Overall Score |
Corrections |
Ownership |
Staff Policies |
Reporting Policies |
Interactivity |
| 3. BBC News |
3.2 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Ranking: Excellent (tied with CBS, Christian Science Monitor and NPR). |
| Details of Findings: |
 |
There is no single corrections page for the global news website of BBC News (although, interestingly, BBC 2 Newsnight does have a corrections page. The “About the BBC” page linked to at the bottom of the homepage does lead to a dedicated page for “Complaints,”and there are two pages where the BBC responds to complaints: “Read our responses” and the “Editors' blog.” However, for online news sites, where navigation and useability are paramount, the lack of a single corrections page or link makes it hard for visitors to get an overview of how many corrections the BBC news has made. |
|
Extensive owner information can be found on the “About Us” page, especially under the two categories: “Inside the BBC” and “Running the BBC.” |
|
There is a dedicated page on the website linked off the “About Us” page for BBC’s Editorial Guidelines. The Editorial Guidelines exhaustively detail both staff and reporting policies, standards and guidelines. |
|
There is no ombudsman or reader’s representative per se, nor a dedicated link for a formal, open “letters to the editor” section. There is also no accommodation for visitors to leave comments at the end of individual stories, nor does the outlet list specific e-mail addresses for reporters. There are, however, multiple ways for visitors to contact the BBC and multiple sections of the site—such as the blogs—where visitors can leave general comments. |
| |
|
|
|
| About BBC News |
| Circulation/Audience |
| 163 million |
| Online Access |
| No log-in needed. |
| Parent Company |
| The British Broadcasting Company http://www.bbc.co.uk/ |
| Other Relevant Ownership and Interests |
-ESPN http://www.espn.com
-Buena Vista Television http://bventertainment.go.com/
-10 Television and 72 Radio Stations http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html |
| Parent Company Revenue |
| £7.1 billion operating budget |
| |
|
|
