Due Accuracy

Section Five of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code states the governing Principle: 'To ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.' The Code notes that its 'Relevant legislation includes, in particular, sections 319(2)(c) and (d), 319(8) and section 320 of the Communications Act 2003' — the statutory duty on Ofcom to set standards ensuring 'that news included in television and radio services is reported with due accuracy' is one of the 'standards objectives' in s.319(2) of that Act. Rule 5.1 of the Code translates this into a binding rule: 'News, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.' As with due impartiality, the qualifier 'due' means the standard of accuracy required is adequate or appropriate to the subject and nature of the particular output, rather than an absolute or unqualified standard.

The due accuracy standard is backed by a correction duty: Rule 5.2 provides that 'Significant mistakes in news should normally be acknowledged and corrected on air quickly', with corrections appropriately scheduled so that the audience which saw or heard the error is likely to see or hear the correction. Because the requirement is now delivered through the Communications Act 2003 framework and the Ofcom Code rather than the Broadcasting Act 1990, the earlier statutory route (licensing conditions under ss.6-12 of the 1990 Act) is no longer the operative mechanism — those sections were repealed in 2003, as discussed under 'Due Impartiality'.