New BSA codebook aims to inform audience

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has put the spotlight on context and choice in its revised code of practice.

The new codebook will be released on April 1, four years after the BSA began work on the revision.

BSA chief executive, Karen Scott-Howman, announced the release of the new codebook on Monday afternoon via its monthly online newsletter, Bulletin.

Legal manager, Patricia Windle, said changes to the codebook emphasise the importance of context and audience choice.

“Different broadcasters are on different platforms, and there are variances in the code to allow for that,” she said.

“If audiences are informed about what they’re getting, that enables them to better monitor their own consumption of programmes, and also enables them to protect child audiences.”

Co-produced with a working group of broadcasters, the updated codebook collates the previously separate radio code, free-to-air code and pay television code into one document.

Ms Windle, who has been involved with the working group from the outset, said the process of updating the new codebook took around four years.

“It’s taken a little while,” she said. “Because the BSA is so small, we’ve all played quite a big part in getting it to this stage.”

The working group comprised eight prominent television and radio broadcasters, with additional input from the Radio Broadcasting Agency and Think TV.

BSA spokesperson, Morgan Coats, said the objective in developing the codebook was to produce a modern, principles-based, and consistent set of codes that are “as user-friendly and informative as possible.”

The collated codebook contains new commentary and guidance designed to assist broadcasters in adhering to the standards, and to inform the general public of broadcasting standards in New Zealand, Ms Coats said.

Additional changes include the simplification of standard titles, and the addition of a discrimination and denegration standard.

The codebook will be released and come into effect on April 1 via the BSA website. Free hard copies will also be available on request.