Editorial Policy Statement

Written: Dec 2021

Updated: Feb 2025

Review date: Feb 2026

Introduction

Rural Media’s Editorial Policy works across the core principles of: Duty of Care to Contributors, Duty of Care to Staff and Duty of Care to Audiences. Our mission is to serve all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and content which informs, educates, entertains and fairly represents the voices of largely unheard and diverse communities and individuals. This policy is based on public service broadcast editorial and compliance guidelines. This policy should be read in conjunction with our Welfare of Contributors Policy and Guidelines. Editorial justification and consideration is the responsibility of the Creative Director, in case of dispute, if a satisfactory conclusion cannot be reached then final responsibility lies with the CEO and Chair of the Board of Trustees. Each piece of content will be reviewed by the Producer, Project Manager, Head of Production or Creative Director. Our rigorous processes ensure all our content is measured against a set of editorial criteria and compliance issues or triggers are flagged and carefully considered before distribution.

Duty of Care to Contributors

We understand that every project and every contributor is different, to ensure all angles are covered, we ask Project Managers and Producers to think about contributor wellbeing in terms of ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ the making and distribution of the production or taking part in the project. The key practical considerations and guiding principles are out lined for each stage in our Welfare of Contributors Policy and Guidelines.

Duty of Care to Staff

At the beginning of each Project or Production careful consideration is given to each thopic /subject matter. Any concerns are flagged to the Head of Production, who along with the Creative Director and, if necessary, other members of the Senior Management Team will make informed decisions about the need and level of support, advice or training to be offered to the production and post production team delivering the work.

Duty of Care to Audiences

Key factors:

  • Strong Language

  • Violence

  • Alcohol and Illegal Drugs

  • Suicide, attempted suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and tragic events

  • Nudity and Sex (and issues surrounding)

  • Reporting death, suffering and distress

  • Fairness, representation and sensitive content

  • Privacy

  • Behaviour

  • Religion

  • Flashing images

  • Strobing and Images of very brief duration

A full copy of our Policy and working guidelines is available on request to info@ruralmedia.co.uk