The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Editorial Standards and Practices articulate the core principles that ensure the quality and integrity of all content distributed by PBS. These standards are the cornerstone of PBS’s commitment to serving the public interest and preserving the public’s trust. Everyone who creates, evaluates, or oversees content for PBS is responsible for familiarizing themselves with and adhering to these standards, as well as related PBS policies on content funding and production.
These standards, which are not intended to address every question that may arise when creating or evaluating content; rather, they are meant to provide a critical resource for encouraging and facilitating discussion about whether content is suitable for distribution by PBS.
MISSION
PBS Charlotte Channels Curiosity and Connects Communities.
PBS Charlotte serves the public interest through content that informs, educates, inspires, and entertains. Content distributed by PBS Charlotte reflects the highest standards of quality, demonstrates a rigorous commitment to editorial integrity unencumbered by commercial imperatives, and further society’s fundamental interest in informed civil discourse.
The hallmark of PBS content is editorial integrity. We endeavor to shield the editorial process from political pressure or improper influence from content funders to maintain the highest level of trust.
PBS treats the public as citizens rather than consumers. PBS content is distinguished by its quality, professionalism, and commitment to lifelong learning. PBS content includes programming that gives children the tools to succeed; documentaries that responsibly explore challenging subjects; news that keeps citizens informed on world events; and programs that expose the audience to a wide range of music, theater, dance, and art.
PBS strives to offer content that expresses diverse perspectives and furthers the goals of a democratic society.
Editorial Independence
Editorial independence is essential to serving the public interest and preserving the public’s trust. Content distributed by us must be free of undue influence from outside forces. We must remain unwavering in our commitment to distributing content that exemplifies ethical and journalistic integrity rather than advancing any organization’s interests. This obligation is achieved through the good-faith professional judgment of our staff and contractors and by carefully listening to the public. Editorial independence gives producers the intellectual freedom to achieve the other principles below.
“Undue influence” refers to intentionally coercive behavior undertaken by any source — including governmental agencies, private corporations, funders, audience members, news or content sources, powerful individuals, or special interest groups — that seeks to influence or interfere with the accurate, impartial, professional creation of content.
PBS Charlotte is licensed to Central Piedmont Community College. College trustees, administrators, donors and employees should be especially sensitive to the issue of editorial independence when sharing their expertise and advice regarding programming. They can offer opinions but cannot dictate editorial decisions. It is the responsibility of senior PBS Charlotte management to decide when and how input from board members and college employees reaches line producers.
Accuracy
Accuracy means honesty, fidelity to facts, and humility on the part of producers and our staff to question their own assumptions about the subjects they are handling. Accuracy includes more than simply verifying whether information is correct; facts must be placed in sufficient context based on the nature of the piece to ensure that the public is not misled. For example, facts can lack necessary context if they are presented in a way that omits important details, quotes someone without correctly reflecting what the person was asked or distorts what occurred. Producers must also be mindful of the language used to frame the facts to avoid deceiving or misleading the audience or encouraging false inferences. A commitment to accuracy also requires gathering, updating, and promptly correcting information as a story develops. Producers must exercise the highest level of care in verifying information, especially when it relates to any accusations of wrongdoing.
Fairness
Producers must consider all relevant facts and perspectives on a particular subject and present information in a respectful and responsible manner — without favoritism or discrimination. Fairness does not require that equal time be given to conflicting opinions or viewpoints. Fairness does, however, require producers to be open-minded when evaluating the merits and assessing the credibility of all opinions or viewpoints while also managing their own personal opinions and biases. One purpose of fairness is for audiences to appreciate and learn from content, even if they disagree with its conclusions. Fairness also requires that producers carefully represent the words and actions of individuals they interview or otherwise cover. Producers must never manipulate the views of those individuals to cast them in stereotypical roles or to support predetermined perspectives. Instead, producers must be mindful of the culture, history, and social customs of those individuals when presenting their views. Producers must give those they cover the opportunity to present their strongest case, while always providing appropriate context to the audience, and producers must give those who are the subject of criticism a reasonable opportunity to respond.
Transparency
Transparency is the principle that content should be produced in a way that allows the audience to evaluate the credibility of the work and determine for themselves whether it is trustworthy. Producers must be open with the audience — to the extent practical — about how the work was done. Being transparent is the proof, in effect, that the editorial principles outlined in these standards are living principles that inform a professional and ethical editorial process — not simply words on a page. While specific methods may vary by circumstance and platform, transparency means respecting that the audience is entitled to understand significant underlying editorial decisions. If producers arrive at a certain conclusion or a point of view, the audience should be able to evaluate how that conclusion or view was reached. Producers who face difficult editorial decisions should consider explaining why certain choices were made; if relevant questions cannot be answered, producers should endeavor to explain why. Sources must be clearly identified, and, in those rare instances when confidential sources need to be used, producers must explain the decision to allow anonymity. Transparency also means using labels or other disclosures when presenting information that might be unclear or confusing to the audience. Finally, transparency requires that producers disclose to the audience all sources of funding for the production and distribution of content.
Inclusiveness
PBS Charlotte strives to contribute to informed debate by presenting, over time, content that addresses a broad range of ideas, information, and perspectives. Inclusiveness means that content should reflect the views of people from different backgrounds, such as geographic areas, ethnicities, genders, age groups, religious beliefs, political viewpoints, sexual orientation and income levels. Where appropriate, we may condition acceptance of outside content from freelancers or collaborative partners on the producer’s willingness to further the goal of inclusivity by including viewpoints from which the public might draw a range of different conclusions. For instance, we may request that supplemental material be added, such as a new segment, an additional episode in a series of programs, or links to credible, high-quality, related resources that provide access to additional information with diverse viewpoints.
Accountability
Producers and staff must remain accountable and responsive to the audience and take direction from our management. Accountability requires producers to stand by their work and to be prepared and willing to respond to relevant inquiries about it, including through active and thoughtful digital engagement with the audience. Accountability also means that producers must adhere to the highest professional standards of conduct and diligently pursue and report the truth. Conflicts of interest must be avoided, and any real or perceived conflicts that could have the appearance of influencing content must be disclosed to our management.
Producers must correct errors, in close consultation with managers, as soon as they determine that errors occurred. Producers must also work closely with managers to respond in a timely manner, and to the best of their abilities, to questions or criticisms from the public about significant editorial decisions or ethical issues related to content. Anyone learning of such concerns should report them to the executive producer or to whichever manager is accountable for bringing up issues in that program for review. Employees, managers, contractors and freelancers should follow the same rule: When in doubt about applicable editorial standards, staff will consult with the person they report to.
As noted previously, senior executives and department heads should provide guidance and exercise oversight in their respective areas—content and programming, finance and administration, and fundraising. Our senior management, not our Board of Directors or license holder, is accountable for our editorial practices.