Guide for journos writing for bbc website

FOREWORD
Welcome to the latest edition of this guide for journalists working on the BBC News
website.

This updated version is published at a time when online journalism and on-demand
production are moving into the very heart of BBC News.

It is meant as a starting point for finding out about how the BBC News website works, who
the audience are, what formats and production systems we use, points of style and the key
principles of BBC journalism overall. On all these things there is also more detailed
information elsewhere, in the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines, for example, in the online style
guide and in the various guides and instructions available on our intranet.

So whether you are working as a full-time member in one of the online news teams in
London or elsewhere, or whether you are an occasional contributor working in another
part of the BBC, this guide contains much of the basic information you are likely to need
about producing content for the BBC News website and its related services on mobile and
TV platforms.

One of the challenges and attractions of working in online journalism is that the platforms
and services we provide for continue to change fast.

In the past couple of years, two new elements in particular have moved centre stage. The
role of user generated content, in the form of first-hand accounts, video, pictures and
comments, has become central. The other major development is the coming of age of
on-demand video as an absolutely integrated and essential part of our storytelling, now
that we are able to embed it within our stories.

But there are also some things that don’t change:

• The need to be accurate, impartial, fair, informative and honest
• Our goal of being first with breaking news – we have to be fast as well as accurate
• The authoritative quality of our context and analysis – we explain why things have
happened, what is important and why
• Our remit to be original and distinctive and to showcase the best of the BBC’s
journalism

This guide is the product of over 10 years of accumulated experience of journalists who
have worked on the BBC News website from its earliest days as BBC News Online,
through to its place now at the heart of BBC News. It is they – and you – who continue to
ensure that we are the best online news operation in the business.

I am hugely grateful to Dan Coles for compiling this latest edition, and to all the others who
have contributed. I hope you find it useful.

Steve Herrmann
Editor, BBC News website
May 2008

CONTENTS

1) Core values
2) Journalistic values
3) Team structure
4) The teams
5) Our audience
6) CPS overview
7) Best practice
8) Writing for the web
9) Language
10) Style
11) Breaking News
12) Sources
13) Pictures
14) Video
15) Linking
16) Researching stories
17) The law
18) Emergencies

Appendix 1) FAQ
Appendix 2) Jargon buster
Appendix 3) Reporters in the field
Appendix 4) Key links and contacts
Appendix 5) Site structure diagram

(1): CORE BBC VALUES
The BBC has six core values which are central to everything the corporation
produces:

Trust

Trust is the foundation of the BBC. We are independent, impartial and honest.

Audiences

Audiences are at the heart of everything we do.

Quality

We take pride in delivering quality and value for money.

Creativity

Creativity is the lifeblood of the corporation.

Respect

We respect each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone can give their
best.

Working together

We are one BBC. Great things happen when we work together.

(2): JOURNALISTIC VALUES

Truth and accuracy

We will always strive to establish the truth of what has happened as best we can.
BBC journalism will be rooted in the highest possible levels of accuracy and
precision of language. It will be well sourced, based on sound evidence, and
thoroughly tested. Facts set in their context, rather than opinion, are the essence of
BBC journalism.

We will be honest and open about what we do not know and will avoid
unfounded speculation.

Serving the public interest

BBC journalism will prioritise and report stories of significance, striving to make
them interesting and relevant to all our audiences. We will be vigorous in trying
to drive to the heart of the story, and well informed when explaining it.

Our specialist expertise will bring authority and understanding to the complex
world in which we live. We will be robust, but fair and open-minded in asking
searching questions of those who hold public office and in reporting that which it is
in the public interest to reveal.

The BBC's news and current affairs journalism will never campaign, but will
pursue journalistically-valid issues and stories, without giving undue
prominence to any one agenda. We will provide a comprehensive forum for
public debate at all levels.

Impartiality and diversity of opinion

For the BBC, impartiality is a legal requirement. BBC journalists will report the facts
first, understand and explain their context, provide professional judgements where
appropriate, but never promote their own personal opinions.

Openness and independence of mind is at the heart of practising impartiality. We
will strive to be fair and open minded by reflecting all significant strands of opinion,
and by exploring the range and conflict of views. Testing a wide range of views with
the evidence is essential if we are to give our audiences the greatest possible
opportunity to decide for themselves on the issues of the day.

Independence

The BBC is independent of both state and partisan interest, and will strive to
be an independent monitor of powerful institutions and individuals.

We will make our journalistic judgements for sound editorial reasons, not as the
result of improper political or commercial pressure, or personal prejudice. The BBC
will always resist undue pressure from all vested interests, and will jealously
protect the independence of our editorial judgments on behalf of our audiences.

Whatever groups or individuals may wish us to say or do, we will make all
decisions based on the BBC's editorial values.

Accountability

Our first loyalty is to the BBC's audiences to whom we are accountable. Their
continuing trust in the BBC's journalism is a crucial part of our contract with them
as licence payers.

We act in good faith at all times, by dealing fairly and openly with the
audience and contributors to our output.

We will be open in admitting mistakes when they are made, unambiguous about
apologising for them, and must encourage a culture of willingness to learn from
them.

Source: Neil report.

There is more information about BBC News editorial policy in the editorial
guidelines and on the internal Gateway website.

(3): TEAM STRUCTURE
The Online team consists of around 150 people - the majority of whom are
journalists based in Television Centre in West London. Formerly a stand-alone
department called News Interactive, the team is now fully integrated into the
BBC’s new Newsroom department, which produces daily news across TV, radio
and interactive platforms. Online is also supplied by specialist teams working in
Newsgathering clusters (such as Business and Science), regional and national
teams in place across the UK, and the Have Your Say area of the Mediawire
team, who manage our popular debates and distribute user-generated material.

Video from around the BBC, including a growing amount of bespoke website
material, is supplied by the Media On Demand team, and the whole collaboration
is supported by a technical development and design team working for Future,
Media and Technology, and based in Broadcast Centre, also in West London.

Online supplies an around-the-clock news service for the web - there is a
website for UK-based readers, and an advertising-supported version for
international readers – and for Ceefax, digital TV, e-mail, RSS feeds, mobile
phones and PDAs. Syndication services deliver headlines and other content to
third-party sites.

Online works very closely with BBC Sport and BBC News Programmes too, as
well as the TV, newsgathering and radio teams it sits alongside.

The principal online teams are UK core, World core and a features and specials
team, which is based on the 7th floor of TV Centre and includes feature writers, web
graphics specialists and a dedicated picture desk.

Online uses a bespoke piece of software called the Content Production System
(CPS) to publish stories across all the text platforms. The CPS is also used to
manage and publish audio and video on web pages. Journalists need to master a
number of software programs and be receptive to learning new ones.

The team has pioneered new techniques and platforms. Journalists require the
basic skills to work in print or broadcasting but must also be ready to learn new
ways of telling the story with, for example, graphics or photo journals. The way we
deliver news is constantly evolving.

Your line manager will be able to answer any questions you have about the various
teams, platforms and training.

(4): THE TEAMS
UK Core

The UK team is a 24/7 operation based in the heart of the multimedia newsroom on
the 1st floor of TV Centre. It produces major stories of pan-UK interest and in-depth
sidebars on domestic issues. It can produce quick takes of breaking news,
correspondent-led colour and analysis, and original features. The UK-facing front
page and UK index are run from here. The team consists daily of a front page
assistant editor, a duty editor leading a small team of BJs, an index manager and a
subbing desk.

The UK team is also the home of the Ceefax analogue TV text service and newer
digital text services. Both are run and monitored from here by the index manager.
The UK team is also increasingly involved in mobile platforms as these develop
rapidly. Because many of the specialist clusters are not staffed 24 hours, UK core
journalists write and edit material across the website for much of the week.

Complaints from readers are also monitored and quickly addressed by the team,
giving us a very close and instant relationship with our audience.

World Core
The World team is UK’s sister service – running the international version of the site
24 hours a day. It also responds to breaking news, and will commission analysis
and colour using the best of the BBC resources. The team has small specialist
desks for each of the world’s regions – all working closely with their newsgathering,
World Service and World TV colleagues.

The team consists daily of a front page assistant editor, a duty editor leading a
small team of BJs, and a sub. The world team is situated on the 2nd floor of the
multimedia newsroom.

Features and Specials
Room 7540, on the 7th floor of TV Centre, is home to a new hub for “added-value”
web teams.

The UK and World features desk has a broad remit, tackling both daily and
long-term projects. Its writers may be asked to produce sidebars to accompany
major news stories but they also work on more time-consuming articles which
provide context on an issue, or help broaden our agenda. Its members are
expected to produce high-quality, original journalism and to provide guidance for

others in this respect.

The UK features team is often called Magazine, after the features index it runs. It
also supplies features to be promoted around the site, and runs a light-hearted
blog called the Magazine Monitor. The world features team is particularly focused
on planning coverage of special events, or long-running news stories. This means
working closely with other parts of the BBC. The features teams are always happy
to receive ideas.

The specials team is made up of journalists, designers and web producers who
work together to expand and enhance our original journalism.

It has several roles:

• Producing information graphics to visually explain our stories. These
include events (how a building under siege was stormed), processes (a
medical procedure), objects (spacecraft), or concepts (the business model
of a company).

• Producing other types of added value content including background and
explanatory guides, and data-led journalism.

• Developing new formats. These have included photo journals, audio
slideshows, ways of displaying data and dynamic maps.

• Working on special in-depth reports. The team works with other desks to
produce special indexes for major stories such as elections, wars, natural
disasters or series focusing on a specific topic.

From time-to-time core journalists are attached to the specials team to exploit
their specialist knowledge and increase their range of skills.

Also part of this hub are two other desks. The picture desk is a centre of excellence
for images on the site and can help with any technical or copyright query. It
produces some of our best galleries, go out to cover stories, and run the In Pictures
index.

The Blogs team is a new unit dedicated to updating and promoting our range of
correspondent and specialist blogs. Some of our best analysis material, and
strongest user feedback, is to be found here.

Specialist teams
Newsgathering organises the central pool of journalistic resource for BBC News. It

runs teams for specialist areas, such as politics, business, health and
entertainments news, and within these there are online journalists running the
corresponding indexes of the News website. These teams are editorially
accountable to the Online desks, but are also tightly integrated with their
newsgathering colleagues.

Newsgathering is also the central point of contact for anyone seeking to
commission anything from a correspondent for the website, and needs to be
informed about all deployments for operational, health and safety reasons.

Audio and Video On Demand

The Media On Demand team is responsible for commissioning and creating video
and audio material for the website and other on demand platforms. It also takes
the best radio and television material from BBC News and makes it available to
the audience via a range of devices, from the PC to mobile phones and interactive
TV.

As the audience appetite grows for watching and listening to BBC News via
means other than TV and radio, its role is changing. On Demand is
commissioning audio and video material that is more suited to an online audience
and this, in turn, is informing the newsgathering process.

The website now uses Flash technology to embed video and audio into web
pages rather then relying on a pop-up player. This approach has increased the
prominence of audio and video and ensured that BBC News website pages make
the best use of the storytelling devices available.

Have Your Say and the UGC hub

We have a duty to seek out all shades of opinion, and contact with our readers is
a vital part of the feedback process.

The interactivity section (known as Have Your Say and part of the Mediawire
team) husbands all the content from our audience and seeks to promote this
valuable resource across the BBC.

The team looks after the daily debates on both the UK site and the International
site, including moderating controversial topics and eliminating offensive
comments.

Have Your Say encourages further dialogue with our readers by putting e-mail
forms on stories, making it easier for them to send in their comments.

The team also gathers, collates and distributes BBC News’s reader
contributions, known as User Generated Content, or UGC. This material has
become an absolutely integral part of our site over recent years and provides in
particular some of our best eyewitness and case study material.

Readers send huge amounts of text, images and video from breaking news
events, though the team takes care to verify the validity of content from readers
before publication.

Have Your Say is also seeking to engage with our audience in different ways -
using their blogs, social networking sites and videos to provide a different
perspective on events.

The team will be based, from October 2008, in the heart of the multimedia
newsroom, and is available 24 hours a day.

Programmes

The interactive programmes team supports a number of major BBC News
programmes. These include Question Time and Panorama.

It is responsible for producing, building and maintaining programme websites,
working closely with the programme production team and designers.

Staff also identify upcoming programmes with news interest and commission text
and video pieces written by the programme makers for the main News website.

Nations and Regions

Journalists based in the BBC's 11 English regional centres and three national
offices produce content for the BBC News website and Ceefax. They use the
CPS to publish stories on a variety of indexes which dovetail with the core
operation in London.

The regional output for the web and Ceefax is co-ordinated from Birmingham
and the nations' teams are based in Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.

The division of duties and how best to cover stories which span the UK are
discussed at SBJ level, but for UK stories you should check before starting a story
that it is not already being covered by one of these teams.

Sport
The interactive team in BBC Sport produces the BBC Sport website. We often
work closely with them on sports news stories, and their material is prominent on
our front pages. We were once part of the same team and we still share our
technical and production technology.

They are largely based on the 5th floor of Television Centre, along with the
TV/radio production teams who look after BBC Sport's live coverage and other
programmes.

Some of the team also works directly alongside the rest of the TV/radio sports
news operation in the main newsroom, with the aim of making sure coverage of the
big stories is joined up and material shared effectively.

Admin

The admin team can offer advice and assistance to Online staff on all non-editorial
issues. They will be able to help with matters ranging from contract or recruitment
queries, training requirements or simply how to find your way around Television
Centre.

They are based in room 7540 Television Centre and can be contacted on 58096,
69819 or 61550.

(5): OUR AUDIENCE
The potential audience for anything you write or produce is huge. Total page
impressions on the BBC News website have grown substantially each year
since launch – it is currently growing at more than 20% annually. It is the most
visited news site in the world outside the US, and we are continually looking at
ways of increasing the number of people we reach, particularly in the UK.

An average day sees more than six million readers come to the site, with a record
20 million people estimated to have visited during the July 7 attacks in 2005. Over
the course of a week more than 17 million people visit us at least once. About half
are from the UK, and the rest are worldwide. The US is our second-biggest market.

A major breaking story can hit two or three million page views, and even the most
specialised sidebar or feature can reach half a million page views if it’s written
accessibly and promoted intelligently.

Text on TV also attracts a large number of users. It is estimated that the BBC
reaches 18 to 20 million people on a weekly basis across Ceefax and our text
services on all three main versions of digital TV: Dsat - Digital satellite (Sky),
Dcable - Digital cable (Virgin Media), DTT - Digital Terrestrial Television
(Freeview).

The mobile version of the website attracts more than half a million people per week,
and a similar number receive email news updates.

The internet population

Hundreds of millions of people across the world now have access to the internet
and the numbers are growing all the time. The speed of their connections is also
improving with broadband and wi-fi developments. Around 30 million people in the
UK have access to the internet – almost all of them on fast broadband connections.

Who is using the website?

The BBC News website retains a traditional internet audience profile – most likely
young, professional and male, but many developments on the site are aimed at
broadening the audience base. Within the BBC, only Radio 1 and Newsround have
younger audience profiles for news than Online.

Popular web pages

On a typical day, the most viewed pages are the UK front page and the
International front page. UK news and World news are the two busiest areas,
followed by the Business and Entertainment sections.

Website statistics are available in real-time on a dedicated page. Studying these
will give you a picture of our reader profile. It also shows that our peak time for
traffic on a weekday is between Midday and 2pm, coinciding with the lunch-break
of millions of UK workers, and the start of the day for readers on the East coast of
the US.

(6): CPS OVERVIEW

Web pages are constructed in Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML). It looks
like this:

<td><b><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/"
class="tbwl"><font
size="1">News</font></a></b></td>

A lot of complex code is needed to generate one page so it is impractical for
journalists who need to make regular changes and publish quickly. For a rolling
news service we need a simpler system of publishing.

The Content Production System (CPS) allows journalists to concentrate on
writing their stories, add media and links, and order the pages without using much
HTML. This code is automatically added after the necessary templates have
been filled in and published. The CPS is also used to write and deliver content to
Ceefax, digital text and other platforms such as mobile phones and personal
digital assistants (PDAs), and to publish video content.

The CPS is constantly evolving to meet new requirements.

Site structure and CPS

The website has two distinct front pages - the International Facing Site
(sometimes referred to as the world edition) and the UK Facing Site (or the UK
edition).

The majority of the content is the same but the split editions enable us to
showcase different stories. The UKFS front page will contain the news agenda
for a domestic audience but will contain international stories. The execution of
Saddam Hussein was the UKFS splash story just as it was on domestic TV and
radio bulletins.

The IFS runs a global news agenda for an international audience - it may
contain UK-based stories but they have to compete with the best stories from
across the world. A good UK angle on the Iraq war would sit in IFS because it
was a key partner in the invasion.

The strategy is very similar to a newspaper with 'change pages' for different
regions. In addition to the front pages, some sections such as Business and
Entertainment also have IFS and UKFS indexes.

News and sport were once integrated and, although sport is now run as a
separate department, sport journalists use CPS to publish web pages on the BBC
Sport website. The systems are seamless and stories can be shared between
departments. In addition, some World Service foreign language sites use the
CPS to produce their web content.

Ceefax

The CPS story template enables content to be published on the website and
Ceefax. Ceefax stories are always four paragraphs long on one screen and
consist of 16 lines - 13 of text and three line spaces between paragraphs. There
are no five-line sentences, no one-liners and no widows (a word on its own on a
line). The template displays these top lines of text exactly as they render on the
TV screen. It is vital that you adhere to this format.

The top four paragraphs are delivered to Ceefax and form the top of the web story.
The design of CPS allows us to write a single story for the web, Ceefax and other
platforms. You will often hear people refer to this multi-platform authoring (MPA).

The software also allows us to manage Ceefax indexes from within the CPS - just
as we control web indexes. Page 101 and the 150 flash are exceptions to this and
are hand-crafted on Plasma software.

CPS functions

The CPS contains story templates and index builders.

Search facility
Every story constructed in the CPS template has its own unique identifying
number. Stories can be found and worked on using these numbers or by doing a
simple word search. Some features such as clickable maps are constructed by
other means and, although still an integral part of the site, do not have ID numbers
and cannot be altered via the CPS story template. The CPS search tool allows
journalists to find pictures, audio and video as well as individual stories.

Story template
This is the building block of the website and Ceefax. It allows the journalist to
write the story, add media and links, and control its publication. Story templates
vary with function so it is important that you choose the right one.

Index builder
This controls the running order of stories in any section. Each web page is split into

cells that we call slots. The properties of each slot can be varied to change the way
the index looks and the content it displays

Index management

Even though you may not be an index manager it is important you appreciate that
your efforts in the story template have a direct bearing on the design of the web
indexes.

It is especially important that you write a tight summary (to sell the story in four
concise lines), add good index links, and that you provide both sizes of index
pictures in good quality. Failure to do this will slow up the production time, look
awful and may even break the index template.

When adding an index picture make sure it is not the same one that has been
used on another related story. Monitor the output to avoid clashing headlines.

Updating stories

We offer a swift, rolling news service so it is imperative to have a system that
allows constant change. But it is also important that we preserve the integrity of the
online archive and avoid overwriting key events. To enable us to do both we have
several different ways of updating live stories.

Each story goes through a common evolution:

Not ready - story is being written · Check - story is written and is ready for the
sub-editing process · Live - story is signed off and ready for the web and
Ceefax · Archived - the story has been taken off all the live indexes and will not be
updated again. It is still available on the web via the search facility.

There are two other publication states for a story:

Second check - used to hold stories back. For example it has been
written and edited but is embargoed or waiting for a legal
check · Removed - the story is no longer available to the public but can
be found in our database .

The public should only ever be able to find one live or one archived
version of a particular story. As a general rule we begin a fresh story when
there is a significant shift in angle, archiving the old story in the process.

For small alterations such as the correction of a typing error, change to a
caption or updating figures we can republish the story very quickly, entirely
replacing the original. Often, we need a third alternative which is to make
substantial changes to a running story where the top line is unchanged.
The template also allows us to update Ceefax text as often as we require. Most
stories are begun by selecting “New Story”, but if you are editing an existing one,
you’ll come across these options.

Minor change - Choosing this option after making a change to a live story
republishes the story straight away. The original is lost, the identity number
remains the same and the time stamp is unchanged. This is only to be used for
minor alteration, ie typos or rewording. For more substantial changes affecting the
meaning of a piece or introducing a significant update, a news update should be
used.

News update - If the journalist chooses this button and saves it as “check” before
making a change, a temporary copy is created and it is this which is updated. The
original story remains live on the site. When the new version is subbed and
published it has a different identity number and a new publication time.
The original story goes into removed status. The public can no longer find this
story on the web – though it can be found in the CPS database. Journalists
occasionally need to refer to a removed story to retrieve a quote or check what
was published in an earlier version.

Importantly, the CPS recognises that any story updated in this way is still part of
the same “family” as the original. All these updates can be found again via any of
the individual numbers. A crude analogy would be to think of the original story to be
an ancestor and all the updates as the children - they have individual identities but
the same family name.

Major rewrite
This is used to update a story with a new angle. The original is archived and
the new version has a new time stamp, fresh identity number and, crucially, the
family is changed. In this instance the original story is replaced across all
indices where it appeared.

Cloning
A quick way to start a brand new story with a fresh angle is to clone an existing
story. This creates an exact replica but starts a fresh family. This is a useful feature
because it allows existing background material, media and links to be retained.
However, there are inherent dangers. You MUST make sure all parts of the story
and media are still relevant, accurate and contemporaneous. If you clone a story,
you are responsible for the whole item and not just your fresh material. It is
especially important to refresh the top picture otherwise any reader following the
links will repeatedly see the same image through the archive.

(7): BEST PRACTICE

Accuracy

Be pro-active. If you are not certain of a fact, then get on the phone and check, and
if you are still in doubt - leave it out. There are plenty of experts within the
department and the wider BBC. Make a point of finding out who they are.

All headlines, summaries and copy must be spell-checked and sub-edited by a
second person before going live.

NEVER publish anything that you do not understand, that is speculation or
inadequately sourced.

Impartiality

The BBC's reputation is built on authority and impartiality. But for the BBC,
impartiality is also a legal requirement. BBC journalists must be open-minded,
independent and fair. The views of the writer must not influence the story and any
opinion should be clearly labelled as such (eg. quotes and correspondents'
comments). Where possible we should aim to balance the story by seeking out a
variety of views.

Avoid loaded language and colourful adjectives. eg. The government's lofty
ideals. The insertion of the word lofty suggests that these targets were not
achievable.

If your story includes a critical comment or accusation you MUST make a
concerted effort to give the opportunity for reply.

Speed

We must be fast. Breaking news stories must be published immediately as
one-liners on Ceefax and on the website ticker. A story of four paragraphs should
be up in five minutes and a fuller version within 20. Speed is very important but
must not compromise accuracy.

Ideas

You are encouraged to bring story ideas to the editorial meetings - original

journalism is a major strength of the department. Please think about the way we
treat a story too. It could be a factfile, Q&A, have-your-say debate, video package,
infographic, an animation or clickable map. Nurture a specialism or geographical
expertise which helps give us an edge on the competition.

Records

You must take an accurate short-hand or long-hand note of any interview. This is
especially important with contentious issues where facts or comments may be
disputed. Many journalists from a print background use short-hand already but
refresher courses are available. Your notebooks must be kept. Alternatively, you
can record your conversations either in one of the studios or at your desk using
equipment provided. Guidance on using recording equipment can be given.

Ownership

Writing or updating a story means taking responsibility for the whole thing. It is
never adequate to say of part of a story that you "inherited it". If material you add
makes down-page material irrelevant, remove it. Check that captions, video, and
quoteboxes are still valid and contemporaneous. Do not be tempted to leave the
sub-editor to do the cleaning up - you must be happy that your story is ready to be
published when it leaves your hands.

Watch the opposition

Our material is published across a range of platforms and we have competition on
every one. Newcomers tend to monitor the opposition in their own field -
broadcasters keep an eye on Sky and ITV and press journalists read the online
newspapers. Become familiar with all of them. Our competitors range from The
Guardian to al-Jazeera TV. Observe the way these organisations treat a story
and the techniques they use to tell it.

(8): WRITING FOR THE WEB

Your copy has a potential audience of millions across a range of platforms. It is
vital that the headline and first four paragraphs of a news story serve all these
readers by telling the story accurately and impartially. Writing text quickly and at
length is an acquired skill.

Headlines

Headlines must tell the story.

They also need to stand alone, avoid jargon or being too cryptic, and fit our pages.

Headlines are a key element on all platforms. We know from research that
audiences skim through content and a good headline makes the difference
between them reading the story or moving on.

Headlines should come from the intro on the story. As a general rule, the intro will
be the first angle that grabs your attention. Keep it simple.

Our headlines are extracted and sent to other outlets, sometimes standing alone
without a summary. Cryptic headlines which look fine accompanied by a summary
may make no sense in isolation. Make them clever and enticing but also make sure
they are intelligible when they stand alone.

The headline on news stories must be between 31 and 33 characters to serve all
platforms. It should not include contractions, long words, double speech marks, or
exclamation marks.

Do not use the same form of words for the headline and the intro - it will jar with the
reader. An active headline is better than the passive one.

Four-paragraph rule
It has always been our policy to make the top four paragraphs self-contained
because this is the material made available to other platforms. Each story is
written once for all platforms, so it is crucial this short-form text can stand alone.
Ceefax pages are only four paragraphs long so they must tell the whole story.

Writing short-form text is a particular skill and can pose challenges even for
seasoned journalists. With a limit of about 75 words you will have to focus on
the most important information.

A guide to what must be included is encapsulated in the five Ws - Who, What,
When, Where, Why.

When you have written the story ask yourself this: Does it contain the key
information? Is it fair, balanced and accurate? Have we properly attributed claims
and allegations? Do these four paragraphs adequately tell the story to someone
reading this for the first time?

This applies particularly to running stories when there is a danger of assuming
that the reader knows all the facts.

It is often useful to summarise the background in the last of the four paragraphs. If
you do not understand a story, neither will your readers.

Avoid unnecessary geography or clauses in your intros. For example, when
writing a UK story:
A 22-year-old Redditch man, who runs his own ferret breeding business, has set a
record …

Does it really matter that he comes from Redditch? If not, include this further
down the story. It slows down the intro and introduces a secondary thought for
the reader.

Of course, the reverse is true when writing an international story where
geography may be a vital element.

Tedious attribution should also be simplified:

Britain's cowboy builders need to be reined in, says the National Federation
of Small Builders, Plumbers and Bricklayers

…says a watchdog body would be a better option in the intro but it is still
necessary to give the attribution later in the four pars.

We never start a story with It has been suggested that… or The BBC has learned
that…
Turn it round: The man at the centre of the MI5 mole-hunt scandal has been
named as Boris Bregovic, the BBC has learned.

Never put crossheads or HTML tags in the top four paragraphs as these will
appear on the screens of other platforms. You can use a quote but it must be
self-contained. Do not leave the key quote until the fifth paragraph - a large
proportion of your audience will never see it.

Summaries and Intros

Summaries should always be a single sentence, in the present tense and set out
the most important facts of the story. They should tell the story in a wider sense
and perhaps even stretch to hinting at other elements further down. It has to
appear timeless and, in keeping with our remit, leave the impression of news on
the move.

Remember that the reader may never read your summary if it is not in the top
three of an index or if they are reading your copy on Ceefax or another platform.

The link between headline and intro must therefore be seamless. The BBC World
News channel takes our summaries so they have to be self-contained.

Here is an acceptable example:

New Zealand jails Israeli 'spies'
New Zealand imposes diplomatic sanctions on Israel after jailing two alleged
intelligence agents.

Intros should be more specific and focused on the main angle of the story. On
radio and TV, you sometimes have to lead listeners or viewers gently into a story.
On the web, you need to get into the story immediately. Try to keep to a present
or perfect tense.

Do not start a story with:

The government has announced…

Focus instead on what is being proposed and why it matters:
New taxes will make the rich richer and the poor poorer, according to a new
government study.

The point of the story must come first.

Captions

A picture can tell many different stories depending upon its context. Two world
leaders shaking hands could indicate that they have agreed a peace treaty or it
might be that they are just smiling for the cameras. The job of the journalist as
caption writer is to put the picture in context.

Please remember, captions should be engaging, not state the obvious, and be a

maximum of two lines.

Quotation marks should be used as appropriate:

Sir Paul McCartney: "The records keep selling"

But when summarising a mood or the gist of a statement, keep it simple.

Bush and Blair: Tough talking ahead

Follow the visual grammar of the picture. eg. if it is Owen (left) and Beckham (right)
in the picture, do not say

Beckham and Owen…

Ideally captions should be two lines on a story picture. Avoid leaving a widow
(one word on its own on a line).

Alt tags

The alt tag is designed to be a label. It should simply describe the content of the
picture.

Stories will not publish unless the alt tag is added.

Story length

On our website we have the capacity to write at length and sometimes we publish
the full texts of important statements or lengthy features. But these are exceptions.
Reading onscreen is more difficult than on paper so we have self-imposed word
limits.

Major story: Likely to be lead stories - 600 words, several pictures, additional
graphics. It will probably generate various sidebars such as case studies and
Q&As etc. Only in exceptional circumstances will we consider breaking this word
limit.

Good story: Likely number two or three on the index - 400 words, at least two
pictures, graphics on merit. Sidebars may also be added.

Moderate story: About 200-300 words - one picture.

For the record: About 80-100 words - one picture, or no picture.

Before you embark on a new story or rewrite an old one, consider how many
angles you are going to cover. Decide whether any of them would be better
treated in full in a separate story, perhaps as a text statement, profile, or
backgrounder. Keep in mind, however, that all the key elements must be in the
main story.

Supplementary information is useful but many readers do not want to have to
click through two or three stories to get all the information. Be disciplined about
your writing. When you have finished your text, go over it with a dispassionate
eye and cut out the superfluous.

Web style

As well as a concise writing style we employ other techniques to make stories
easier to read on a web browser.

Although our website has a broadsheet agenda our lay-out is more like a
tabloid newspaper. One idea merits one sentence in one paragraph.

We also try to break up the text with other devices:

Pictures: They can be worth a thousand words so use them to help tell the story.

Locator maps: Serve as a quick reference and can aid story telling. Many
have been done and are in our graphics archive. We have Curious Maps
software to make new ones.

Crossheads: Use them to flag up the next part of the story. Two or three short
words will suffice but avoid using material from the following sentence.

Bullet lists: These are easier to read than dense paragraphs of text. Use
them to summarise complicated points or different elements of the story.

Factboxes: They work best as three or four snappy facts on one line each. They
are particularly useful to detail chronologies and even better when used in
conjunction with a picture or graphic.

Quoteboxes: Work in a similar fashion to factboxes and are used to highlight a
particularly strong quotation. Keep the box above the actual quote and keep them
short. These also work well with pictures. Embedded links, also called
click-throughs, can be added to these boxes and are particularly effective at
directing traffic to extra sidebars.

Accessibility

All our stories should be written in a clear and accessible manner - we are writing
for a general audience and a global one. We must not assume too much
knowledge and should include some context or explanation in the top four
paragraphs. The importance of the story - why we should care - needs to be
flagged up early on, as should the impact on ordinary people. Spell it out every
time. If it is a big company merger, for example, what is the impact on jobs?

Think about the whole site. There are a great many conflicts in the world to cover
but if your index picture is always a man with a gun then you reduce the impact of
the pictures and deter some readers. Try to think of a different way of illustrating
the story.

Similarly, if you are managing an index, aim to provide a variety of stories - hard
news, background, features, analysis, lighter topics and relevant sports stories.

Try to develop a broad agenda. A majority of our audience tends to be made up of
young men but we are actively trying to widen our reach.

(9): LANGUAGE
We aim to use simple and unambiguous language that can be understood around
the world. Use words and grammar with precision and consistency and remain
objective.

Favour short words

However, a new facility has been established in the immediate area -
following an investigation demonstrating that there are insufficient supplies
of comestibles.

Becomes:

But a new plant has been set up nearby after an inquiry showed there
was not enough food.

Avoid colloquialisms such as mum, dad, tot, teen etc. Remember too that common
parlance in the UK may not be understood by people whose first language is not
English eg. Sticky wicket.

Do not use tired words such as slams, blasts, nets etc.

Write afresh

Agencies and correspondents have their own styles. Read, understand and
consider what they have written and then use your own words. Your copy will
sound fresher. NEVER cut and paste agency copy.

Even if you are only rewriting the top of a story you must take responsibility for the
whole thing. Remove down-page material if it is irrelevant and check that you are
not repeating names and titles in the second mention.

Check after publication to see whether the story will need another refresh
with new pictures or developments.

Loaded language

Always aim at neutrality. Avoid phrases such as "forced to" if it is a voluntary
decision.

Avoid using the word claim when you mean said. Claim suggests an element of
doubt where none exists.

Likewise, avoid "good news" and "bad news". A cut in interest rates may be good
for homeowners with a mortgage but not so good for savers. Just say what
happened and let the readers decide whether it is good news or not.
Sometimes you will need to distance yourself from a sentiment being expressed
eg.
Crippling new fishing quotas are being criticised by fishermen who could
lose their livelihoods.

The fishermen see this as damaging but environmentalists may believe it is
the right move.

Any information which is not beyond dispute must be clearly and immediately
sourced.

The words execute and murder can pose problems. Execute suggests a judicial
process and murder is a legal term which refers to intent. These words are not
banned but care must be taken with their context. The word killed is often
preferable.

Use “declined to comment” rather than “refused”. In most instances people are not
obliged to comment or give an interview.

Clichés

Lazy phrases include: broad daylight, level playing field, rushed to hospital,
cheated death.

Consistency

Inconsistency is a serious threat to our credibility. Check your copy thoroughly to
make sure you do not contradict yourself, that all your information is
contemporaneous and the facts and figures are correct all the way through.

This also applies to summaries, picture captions, crossheads, factboxes and
quoteboxes. It is also worth checking that your story matches the captions on
media - such as video packages.

It is easy to get caught out with the way organisations are rendered eg. India's
long-range missile - Agni-2 or Agni II. Find out what the style is and stick to it.

Jargon

Avoid using language specific to organisations - this is a particular risk on the
specialist desks where journalists are close to their subject.

For example, the police often use stilted language such as a "road traffic accident
has occurred in the vicinity". Management jargon is also particularly ugly - thinking
outside the box, downsizing etc. Be wary of medical expressions.

Journalese

We are striving to use short words where we can. This is especially important as
we are writing text for other platforms with tight counts. Short words give more
flexibility with headlines but it is easy to slip into clichés. Many tabloid terms such
as slam and slate are barred. Be careful in your use of words - only use bid when it
refers to a cash offer.

Tautology

Some of the culprits are: mass exodus, advance warning and complete
elimination.

Quotes

Quotations are indispensable but easy to misuse. A good quote can capture the
essence of a story, and be worth pulling out as a headline or quotebox. But using
too many can disrupt the flow of the story and make it too long. Paraphrasing can
be quicker and neater.

When quoting:

· Choose the crucial one-liner where possible
· Remove conversational devices such as: "What I want to say is…
· Discard anything that does not make sense
· Avoid repetition. eg. The prime minister will permit a Euro referendum.
"There will be a referendum on the European constitution," he said.
· Omit or paraphrase sections which highlight poor grammar or linguistic
incompetence

Typing errors

Spelling and typing errors make our stories look sloppy, undermine our credibility
and generate more complaints than anything else. Such errors are hard to spot in
your own copy so use the spell checker in CPS or Word. They do not catch
everything, such as place names, so print out a preview and read it again. Your
copy must be checked by another person before it is sent live.

Geographical bias

Avoid geographical bias. Regions are particularly sensitive to a London weighting.
eg. We reported the opening of the Bluewater shopping centre in KENT and the
Buchanan Galleries in SCOTLAND. Aim to be even-handed. Since devolution,
not all legislation applies across the whole UK. Be aware that there may be
exceptions for the devolved nations.

Opinion polls

Details of the long-standing BBC rules about opinion polls are contained in the
Editorial Guidelines. For our purposes we do not put a poll story as the first item in
any section - a possible exception might be an exit poll in a general election. We
always report opinion polls as providing pointers rather than hard evidence. They
suggest or indicate and do NOT prove or confirm.

We always give the background to a poll - who commissioned it, who carried it out,
the date and most importantly, the size of the sample. We should mention any
margin of error and any subsequent events which may have affected the poll eg.
The poll was carried out before an important announcement .

We report all the national polls of political support carried out by the big
organisations - Gallup, ICM, Harris, Mori, NOP and YouGov. We do not rely on the
interpretation by the commissioning organisation.

(10): STYLE
An extensive style guide is available by letter search on the intranet.

In general, our spellings follow first use from the Oxford English Dictionary and for
place names we rely on the Times atlas. We have made a conscious effort to
minimise the use of capitals. There are exceptions so please check.

Here are a few pointers to common queries:

Acronyms and initials

You can use abbreviations on first reference but only if there is no chance
of any misunderstanding eg. UN, BBC, Nato. Otherwise spell them out - the
World Health Organization, WHO - or introduce a label eg. The public
sector union, Amicus.

We use upper and lower case for acronyms which can be pronounced as a word
eg. Aids, Nasa, Fifa. Only use capitals where you would pronounce letters
individually eg. FA, UNHCR.

In titles and names with initials, do not use full stops after the initials or spaces
between eg. WH Smith.

Use lower case to abbreviate a phrase, eg. mph for miles per hour.

Americanisms

Beware of these. Say meet (not meet with) and talk to (not talk with). We appeal
against a verdict (not appeal a verdict).

Avoid noun to verb conversions like "to hospitalise", "to scapegoat" and "to
rubbish". Beware of words or phrases which have different meanings for US and
UK audiences eg. suspenders, vest and slated.

Avoid US style on time references. President Bush was in New York ON
Wednesday and not President Bush was in New York Wednesday.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are the source of much confusion. Generally we do not use

contractions except in direct quotes, so I am busy instead of I'm busy.

To indicate possession, the apostrophe comes before the S unless it is a
plural which ends in the letter S.
eg. The emperor's new clothes unless there is more than one emperor in which
case it would be the emperors' new clothes.

Be careful with the word “it”. It's means it is or it has. But the word its refers to the
thing belonging to it.

eg. A setback for the company and its shareholders.

There are style rules too. Leave out apostrophes before common abbreviations
such as phone and plane. Use one when omitting a century. eg. the Brazilian
squad of '08.

Capitals

We try to minimise the use of capital letters. Some titles are always capped
eg. the Queen, the Pope, but government job titles have caps only if a
name is given.

eg. The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, was given a hostile reception, BUT
There was a hostile reception for the home secretary.

Opposition portfolios take lower case. eg. Shadow chancellor George
Osborne. All governments are lower case eg. The Italian government.

Use upper case for recognised regions eg. The Middle East. Otherwise it should
be lower case - south-west France, mid-Wales etc.

With Latin names for plants and animals we follow scientific convention -
capped first word and italicised. eg. Corvus corone, Rattus norvegicus.

Commas

Take care with the use of commas. Avoid using long sentences with lots of
sub-clauses requiring a mass of punctuation. This is best illustrated by example.

The boy, who hated my sister, was
very rude. The boy who hated my
sister was very rude.

Essentially, the sentence means the same but the second example implies that
there is more than one boy. Is this what was intended?

A comma is generally used as a pause for breath but its presence can alter
meaning.

With the meteor approaching the scientific community felt obliged to set a
survival deadline.

This is tricky to read without the comma.

With the meteor approaching, the scientific community felt obliged to set a
survival deadline.

It is now clear that the meteor is threatening the whole Earth.

Company names

We usually treat company names as though their punctuation were conventional
(eg. "easyJet" is Easyjet). But there are specific exceptions (eg.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, iMac, NatWest), and one general exception - we DO
use a lower case "e" at the start of a name, where it stands for "electronic" (eg.
eBay).

Contractions

We do not use them except in direct quotes. Spell them out - cannot, do not, is
not etc. Occasionally, we relax this policy for eyewitness accounts and
correspondents’ pieces.

Digits

Use words for numbers below 10 and then figures unless it comes at the start
of a sentence. There are more examples of use with money and scores in the
style guide.

Ellipses

Use three dots and a space… like this…

Do not use a space first as it runs the risk of an awkward line break.

Foreign names

If you have any doubts, the foreign language services at Bush House should
be able to help.

We do not use foreign appellations (Monsieur, Herr etc).

When they occur in the middle of names, the Dutch van and the Italian di are lower
case if the whole name is used eg. Ruud van Nistelroy. They are capped if only the
surname is used eg. Van Nistelroy.

In the case of Spanish names, the last of the three names is usually the mother's
name which should not be used on its own. So Manuel Echeverria Valdez
becomes Mr Echeverria. BUT this does not apply to Brazilian or Portugese names.
The family name in China comes first so Hu Jintao is Mr Hu at second reference.

Hyphens

Hyphens are often essential to convey the correct meaning. The headlines
Mother-to-be assaulted and Mother to be assaulted are telling very different stories.
The general rule is that words are hyphenated when they are used adjectively.

eg. A little-used car is different to a little used car.

Military titles

There is an extensive section on this subject in the style guide but the general
rule is to cap up ranks with the name, otherwise leave them in lower case. Take
care to get these right as inaccurate titles ruin our credibility and cause offence.

Money

There is no common policy for dealing with sums expressed in different currencies.
Refer to the style guide for more help.

There is, however, a ruling on first use and alternatives depending on whether your
story is rooted in the UK, the eurozone or world eg. In the UK we use pound

sterling first with an alternative in dollars.

Quote marks

Single:

· In headlines and crossheads
· In puffboxes
· On the ticker
· For quotes within quotes eg. The security statement said: "Al-Qaeda declared
that we are 'facing the wrath' of Osama bin Laden" in the tape recording.

Double:

· In direct quotations in text
· First use of phrases such as "mad cow disease"
· First reference to nick-names eg. Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff
· In pictures and audio captions

Singulars and plurals

Companies, governments and other bodies are singular - the exceptions are the
police and sporting teams. Media is a plural (singular is medium). Other
examples include bacteria, and criteria.

Paratrooper is the singular of paratroops. Water cannon is the same in
singular and plural.

NB: There is an anomaly with sporting clubs when referred to as a business
concern. eg. Arsenal has announced a big drop in profits. BUT Arsenal have won
the championship.

Spellings

Stick to first use in the OED but use "…ise" rather than "…ize".

Avoid US spellings like color, TV program etc. This also covers job titles, so it is
American Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The exceptions are place names
and official bodies eg. World Health Organization, Pearl Harbor, US Department of
Defense.

Always use the spell checker and get a second person to sub your copy. Poor
spelling damages our reputation and is particularly embarrassing if we spell the
names of our own correspondents incorrectly. Always check.

Tenses

We use the present tense in summaries - it is fresher, more immediate and newsy.

Tenses cause problems in reported speech. Imagine the prime minister says: "I
am resigning." If you begin with the present tense (The prime minister says…)
or what is sometimes called the perfect tense (The prime minister has said…)
then you can leave his tense as it is. Both of these are correct:

The prime minister says he is resigning.

The prime minister has said he is resigning.

But if you use the past tense (He said) then you have to go back one tense
from that used in the original.

The prime minister said he was resigning

The definite article

For space reasons we should avoid using the definite article with a title. eg.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

The definite article is used with groups if it is part of their official title eg. The
Beatles but the Stereophonics.

Date and time

Put the day before the month and avoid suffixes eg. 12 April 2008. Exceptions are
holidays and historic dates eg. The Fourth of July and 9/11. If you are adding a day
of the week the style is:
Saturday, 12 April
Saturday, 12 April 2008

Our readers live across all time zones so words like yesterday, today and
tomorrow are confusing. Do not use them. Refer to days by name.

Use the 24-hour clock in all circumstances, labelled GMT or BST. For world stories
put local time first followed by a conversion.
eg. The prime minister will arrive in Washington at 1100 local time (1600 BST).

Decades are written 1960s, 1970s etc. You only need an apostrophe
when you abbreviate eg. The sound of the '60s.

Individual centuries take a cap eg. the 21st Century but lower case in all other
instances. eg. Scientists expect a cure by the end of the century.

Trademarks

Avoid using company names when you need a generic word. Among those
commonly confused are: Hoover, Portakabin, Kleenex and Biro.

(11): BREAKING NEWS

We pride ourselves on publishing breaking news stories fast on all platforms.
Every journalist likes to beat the opposition but we must be certain that the story
is accurate. Be sure to follow the sourcing guidelines covered elsewhere in this
booklet.

For a basic text story this is how we would deal with a breaking news event:

Ticker

Publish one sentence plus the words: More soon. The item may need to be on
both the UKFS and IFS tickers. Assign someone to write the first take.

Alerts

If the story warrants it, send out a breaking news e-mail, SMS and desktop alert.

First take

You should aim to finish this within five minutes - either as an update of an
existing live story, clone of an older story or clone of the breaking news template
which has the ID number 1234567. The latter contains the breaking news
graphics. The breaking news branded promo to promote our alert services from
within the story is 3662897.

Once the first take – which can be as little as one paragraph - has been
checked the story should be published to both Ceefax and the website, and
placed in the relevant indexes.

If the story is delayed in reaching either platform call technical support of
57957. If there are serious technical problems you may need to use the
emergency production system for the website and revert to using Plasma to
publish to Ceefax.

Second and subsequent takes

There is enormous competition in reporting breaking news, and just because a
first take has been published it does not mean we can slacken the pace.
Additional paragraphs need to be published as soon as they are ready in order to
build up a fuller story as quickly as possible.

Over-the-shoulder subbing can help speed up this process. Aim to reach 10
paragraphs within 15 minutes. This is a good point to start dividing the work if it is
a big story. Other journalists can be assigned to making phone calls, watching
other outlets for quotes to feed to the writer or cutting pictures.

Next steps

Do you need a map? These can be made using Curious software or there may be
an existing one you can re-use in the graphics folder

Do you need to send someone to the scene? Liaise with Newsgathering and
make sure the journalist has the relevant safety training. The journalist should not
forget to take a digital camera and make arrangements to file copy.

Do you need to change other front page content? Some content, especially
promos, may be inappropriate or legally unsafe. For example, if a notable
politician dies then the backgrounder explaining medical options for survival
suddenly becomes irrelevant and insensitive.

Do you need to stream a TV feed? The Video On Demand team can organise
this and provide the icon link to place underneath the summary of the top story.

Do you need to put a UGC form on the story? These can lead to fruitful
eyewitness accounts and pictures.

Ticker: Watch for fresh lines for the ticker which add to the published material.
Once the main story is live, take the original ticker item down to avoid duplication.

Links: Initially you can add existing backgrounders such as profiles. Archived
stories can be adjusted to bring them up to date - you will have to make them live
again to accomplish this and bring the time stamp up to date. If the breaking news
is a notable death, check the obituary list on the intranet. Do not forget external
sites - they may have more background and practical information.

Communication

Is the story an exclusive? If so tell the news organiser and flash copy through
ENPS. There are full instructions on the intranet.

Sidebars

There is a vast range of material in the archive and a number of ideas to pursue to

add to a breaking news story. Here are some of the things you should consider.

Have Your Say: A flavour of good early responses can be woven into the main
story but ideally you will want to link to a separate debate as soon as possible –
the Have Your Say team will provide this. They will also look for eyewitness
accounts from readers. User-generated content is a major part of our output now
and some of our best material arrives this way.

Analysis: Do not forget to add a couple of paragraphs of analysis/context to the
main story. These can be taken from BBC correspondents’ copy or broadcast
material. For a self-contained sidebar, you can commission from newsgathering a
bespoke piece of analysis or colour from a correspondent. Alternatively, we will
often write our own background or analysis in-house based on the sources
available.

Pictures: Picture galleries are well received by readers especially if they are
dramatic. Four or five pictures in a gallery will suffice in the first instance. You can
grab pictures from BBC News video using Jupiter.

Full transcripts: A major speech or statement looks good as a stand-alone
page. This works well with major policy changes or resignations.

Spin-off angles: Pursue fresh angles in a separate page.

Reaction: Try publishing a page of quotes from the key personnel or the first
eyewitness accounts - even if they are short.

Q&A: These are quick to make and quick to read. They are especially useful at
teasing out some of the key issues when correspondents are too busy to write a
full analysis.

Profiles and backgrounders: But remember that a great many already exist
in our own archive.

Finally …

Once you have built up the content, display the stories to their best advantage. You
might switch to a splash-layout front page. You might collect all the sidebars
together on the top right-hand side of an index under a new strapline. You may
want to showcase the best material in a puffbox scheduler. Build a hyperpuff to add
to all relevant stories and use click-through to flag up key backgrounders from
factboxes.

(12): SOURCES

You’ll be using a wide variety of news sources, including BBC material and
correspondents, international agencies, websites, blogs and interviews with
prominent figures and readers. The use of agencies, especially on breaking news,
requires great care. A report from a single agency can only be used with great care
and with clear attribution. A summary of the guidelines follows here.

International

Typically, the sources would be the main wire services, news copy from a BBC
correspondent or stringer, or, in some circumstances, a write-up of a radio or
television report supplied by the BBC's monitoring service at Caversham.

BBC correspondents are taken to be reliable as a single source. The same can be
said of an AP report on a White House statement.

Editors should acquire the expertise to make more sophisticated judgements.
These might be based on the knowledge that a particular Reuters correspondent is
also the trusted BBC stringer, or conversely on a warning from a BBC
correspondent about the unreliability of a local wire reporter. It is worth consulting
the relevant regional desk, which is likely to have this kind of detailed knowledge.

For breaking news, a single source may be enough so long as there is clear
attribution - a word like "reportedly" does NOT do the job - and the story makes
clear there is no confirmation.

Some official and semi-official sources like the Chinese Xinhua and Turkish
Anatolia news agencies carry quite a high credibility rating, others less so. When in
doubt, refer up.

It is also important to consider whether a source has a specific agenda or reason to
be partial. When there is, that should be taken into account and made clear. A
phrase like "...which normally reflects the official view" may be helpful. And it is
worth spelling out that there is no independent confirmation.

In some circumstances, such as natural disasters or bomb explosions, the picture
will be partial, or confused. This need not be a problem so long as we
acknowledge the fact and attribute carefully. We should be clear about what we
do not know as well as what we do. By all means say "details are sketchy" - such
phrases can add to the drama of a breaking news story, as well as honestly
reflecting the limits of our knowledge.

If there is any doubt about whether the BBC is going with a story, the World News
Orgs on the second floor are a good point of contact. They will be close to
correspondents trying to stand up the story.

Particular care needs to be taken with other websites. During the conflict in Iraq,
Arabic websites published accounts and video clips which were sourced to militant
groups. It can be very difficult, if not impossible, to check these original sources, so
we must make an attribution.

Do NOT copy and paste news agency material.

UK

Again, most of the time we proceed with stories that have been confirmed using
BBC material or our own checks. We can also proceed with a news story on the
basis of facts from the Press Association (PA) only.

With breaking UK political news or Northern Ireland stories we should take
guidance from the politics team at Millbank or the Belfast office. A story which PA
attributes to "sources" and not to a clearly identified organisation or individual, and
which is not supported by quotes, also needs to be treated with caution.

PA (and other agencies) often give numbers for people attending controversial
events or rallies. When these are challenged, as they sometimes are by our
readers, it is very difficult for us to stand by figures like this because we were not
present. We should avoid using agency estimates of crowds and in general we
should only attribute such numbers to the police and the organisers. We should
use both where we can.

eg. "The Stop the War Coalition say 15,000 people attended the rally in Trafalgar
Square, while police say they believe the number taking part was about 7,000."

With any queries, the UK news organiser can be called to get a sense of how the
rest of the BBC is treating a story. It is also important to make clear that agency
copy CANNOT be copied – so you must not cut and paste.

Sourcing pictures

Sourcing of pictures is just as important as sourcing of text. We must be sure of the
origins and authenticity of our pictures and be aware that attempts are made to
dupe us.

Pictures can be hard to verify, so the risk of being misled is greater.

When the source of a picture is unclear, it should be treated with caution. If in
doubt, do not use it - and refer up. There may be occasions when we will want to
use a picture of doubtful origin, in which case we should be careful to use a
phrase such as "The picture broadcast by …apparently showing".

Most of our pictures are taken from PA, AP, Getty and AFP wire services. Where
appropriate these should routinely carry an identification tag (except on indexes).
When we use other pictures - screen grabs for instance - their source should be
identified in the alt tag. When it is an archive picture, this should also be made clear
and great care should be taken with the caption.

Pictures should not be lifted from other web sites or social networking sites
without permission.

Pictures sent in by readers are normally verified by the Have Your Say team.

(13): PICTURES

Quality is crucial. Our readers expect to see the best pictures on our site. A good
quality front page index picture will influence the way the whole site is perceived.
Never think of pictures as an afterthought. Choose the best pictures which show
something happening, are relevant, are well lit and communicate an element of the
story.

Then crop them intelligently to fit the size required and maximise their impact. Most
of our pictures are very small, so crop tight. The 66 picture is particularly small so
must be clear. If it does not add to the story crop it out.

Crop imaginatively and do not always place the main subject centrally - use the
rule of thirds to place the main subject of a picture off centre.

To do this divide the image into nine and place the main part of the subject (in this
case the woman's eyes) on one of the lines or where the dissecting lines meet as
in the above example. Offsetting the subject to one side can create a more
pleasing balance to the picture and add emphasis to that which is most important.

When cropping faces go in very tight to add emphasis but remember to keep the
chin rather than the forehead. For index pictures crop even tighter to just above the
eyes. Place the eyes on one of the thirds. Even a simple head shot can have
impact when cropped well. In terms of content other than portraits you need to
crop as tight as possible and choose a subject that is easily recognisable at such a
small size. They always look better when the person is looking into the page rather
than out at the margins.

Use all Adobe Photoshop Elements has to offer to improve the quality of the
finished image before inserting it into CPS. Make sure you know how to adjust the
levels and sharpen an image. You can use a video grab if there is nothing

appropriate in the Elvis picture library.
Avoid using too many pictures of men in suits. Images should grab the
attention and begin to tell the story.

Stock pictures are fine but try to avoid using the same one over and over. Does a
picture of a person inserting a CD into a PC really add to the story? If not, leave it
out or find a new one.

There is also a danger of libel. If you are reusing a stock picture make sure that
the new content does not defame the people or company pictured.

Picture sizes

The pictures in a story should meet all the above criteria. Usually one will be placed
at the top with others lower down the story.

Story body pictures are usually 226 pixels wide by 170 high. When saving a
finished image in Photoshop, use Save For Web to compress the picture to under
18k. Index pictures are 226 wide x 170 high for the top story, and for stories two
and three are 66 wide x 49 high. An older format with pictures 203 wide by 152 high
is being phased out. None of the index pictures require a credit.

For the feature slots, indexes are migrating to a format using an image 126 wide by
71 high, with the image placed on the story itself. Promo puffs are used to promote
features on older indexes. Pictures there should be 66 wide x 66 high. File sizes
should be less than 3k.

Picture galleries

CPS picture galleries are a great way to show off a set of images either as a stand
alone story or alongside your text piece. Photo journals are also very powerful,
though take longer to produce. Pictures there can be up to 466 wide by 300 high.

Pop-up galleries

Pop-up galleries are mainly used for vox-pops but can also be a good way to
show off a set of pictures with about 70 words alongside each picture, ie. more
than on a standard gallery. Pop-ups are not searchable and once the promo has
been removed, unless there is a link from a story page, the gallery cannot be
found in the archive. A guide to making pop-ups can be found on the intranet.

Copyright

The Picture Desk is there to help you source new images, clear copyright, crop
well, improve your Photoshop skills and generally advise on how to get the best
pictures in your stories.

It can also arrange for new stock photographs to be taken or provide a
photographer to cover news or feature events.

Pictures at-a-glance

Image types and sizes Pixel size Max file
size
Story body – landscape 226 x 170 18 K
Story body– upright 226 x 282 24 K
New Story body image – Cross column 466 x 282 40 K
(Use with strong news pictures, no generics, stock
shots etc. speak to picture desk first)
New Front page index – top slot – standard 226 x 170 18 K
landscape format
New Front page index – top slot – upright format 226 x 282 24 K
New Splash front 466 x 260 40 K
Index – stories two and three + mobiles 66 x 49 3K
(All stories and picture galleries must have one of
these)
New Index - Feature Promo’s 126 x 71 5K
Old style Index – top slot – all indexes except the 203 x 152 14 K
front pages
New CPS picture galleries 466 x 300 35 K
220 x 300
Large Pop-up galleries 600 x 400 60
Vox-pop pop-up galleries 300 x 300 35
New AV Embedded video 512 x 288 40 K
This will be scaled down to fit other formats such
as the embedded video in stories, either Large
400 x 224 or Small 256 x 144
NEW Sport Features Landscape 206 x 116 18K
NEW Sport Features Portrait 126 x 158 18K

(14): VIDEO AND AUDIO

Embedded video and audio is an integral part of our news stories and features.
The On Demand team select and process the clip. They then offer it up to the
journalists assigned to the story, for them to watch and place within the page.
Video that works for a web audience, rather than simply repeating presented
material from television, is the key principle. There are a number of ways the video
or audio can be place in a story:

1) 400 x 224 Large video (top of the page)
Situation: This is for picture-led stories where you have to see the video to
understand the story or the footage is ‘must-see’ video.
Examples: Fire in East London http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7090725.stm
Alan Johnston http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6710863.stm
Position: The video should be placed in the First Tags box or above the CPS
Shortform coding, so not to interfere with Ceefax formatting.

2) 400 x 224 Large video (backgrounder)
Situation: This is for video which is integral to the story, but more illustrative or
background in nature. This should be placed where it makes sense in the story.
Example: US elections – what is a primary? A caucus guide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7049207.stm
Position: The video should be placed one par below a crosshead and never be
put at the top of a page.

3) 256 x 144 Small video (‘heads’ interview)
Situation: This should only ever be used for “talking head” content. If the video is
the point of the story – i.e. the whole story is a write up of the interview, then it
should go at the top of the page. If it is illustrative and is an interview with a
contributor mentioned in the story, then it should go wherever it makes most
sense.
Example: Killer drivers could avoid jail (mother interview)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7178120.stm
Position: This video should be placed where it makes most sense to the story.
Either at the top or lower down below the top four pars

4) Audio anywhere
Situation: Audio content is anything which complements, explains and adds to the
story, and therefore can go where ever it is most relevant on the page – but below
the first four pars.
Example: Festive sales ‘low’ – BRC director-general reaction
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7175261.stm
Position: The audio player can go anywhere on the page but below the first four
pars. Because the audio player is quite deep, you should avoid inserting directly
underneath a picture or quotebox.

(15): LINKING

A key part of being a web journalist is understanding the navigation of the site.
Readers must be able to move seamlessly between stories along a clear path,
both to our own content and the wider web.

Research tells us that users value the quality of our links so these should not be
treated as an afterthought. We are in the business of providing fast, accurate news
but the links enable us to play to our other strength - delivering context,
background and explanation.

The value of the internal archive continues to grow as long as it is properly
maintained and the navigation is logical.

Internal links

Although the links are vital, experience has shown us that "less is more". We have
a self-imposed limit of six associations (except in hyperpuffs) so try to find those
which add most to the readers' understanding of an issue - focused pieces of
analysis, a profile, an eyewitness feature or a picture gallery. Make sure they are
contemporaneous or link to the most recent story of a chronology.

The same goes for the index alsos - the links that appear underneath the
summary of a top story. We aim to have three of these.

The most important thing is to keep abreast of our content and read the in-depth
pages so you know what is available.

Hyperpuffs bring together the best material on a particular topic - usually a major
running story. They have a limit of 12 links. Make sure you put the relevant
hyperpuff on a story where one exists.

And finally, do not forget other BBC sites which may offer more background and
expertise eg. BBC History or BBC Science and Nature.

External sites

Our links to other websites carry a disclaimer stating that we do not take
responsibility for the content. But we must still take care about what we point to.

We should not link to an external site when it would be clearly inappropriate. We
should ensure that providing a link does not damage the BBC's reputation for
editorial integrity and taste - and decency issues must be carefully considered.

Great care must be taken when linking to any commercial site to ensure that we
do not give the impression that the BBC is endorsing any commercial product or
service.

We must be impartial. We would normally want to link to sites which represent a
reasonable range of views provided they do not breach the taste and decency
guidelines.

We do not link to sites that are defamatory, incite racial hatred or religious
prejudice, advocate violence, or contain anything pornographic or distasteful.

As a general rule we do not link to foreign language sites as we cannot be sure of
the material. We occasionally make exceptions with media reviews or major
stories

This is not always as clear-cut as it might seem. If you are in any doubt, do not
make the link and refer up to your editor. Common sense prevails here - if it looks
suspicious, do not link to it.

When you are linking to an external site, click beyond the home page - make
sure you are really linking to the right site. Some spoof sites will hide their
content behind a plausible web address and an imitation home page. Do not
copy addresses from a previous story or rely on ones from a cloned story - they
may be wrong or out of date. Make sure there is no redirect in operation.

When linking you need to think about more than just taste. We are looking for
quality not quantity. Make sure the site is relevant to the story, and try to balance
the links on controversial topics.

Extra care is needed during elections when we have a legal requirement to be fair
to all parties. If you are writing an election story make sure you provide external
links to ALL the relevant political groups.

Choosing a link

When linking to an external site, it is normally best to link to the home page. This
gives an element of choice for the reader. They can also see who created the site
so they can be reassured as to its quality and content. Home pages often contain

useful alternatives such as differing language versions, search boxes and a
choice of frames. Home pages are also less likely to disappear in any future
reorganisation.

However, there are instances when it is desirable to find a specific page. eg.
when you want to link to the full text of a statement or an individual profile.

When giving the URL (Uniform Resource Locator, or the web address) or site
description in CPS, do not use the words "official", "website" or "home page". Most
are official with home pages so there is no need to state the obvious - it also
sounds a little old-fashioned.

Newstrackers

In addition to the links to our own archive and external sites we provide links
from our stories directly to other versions of the same story on rival news
websites.

Research among younger internet users has shown that they are keen to
compare what different news sources are saying about particular stories. We also
think that it enhances our reputation as a public service news organisation.

Called Newstracker, this service answers the question: How are other news
organisations covering this?

The system uses web search technology to identify content from other news
websites that relates to our own content. We receive a constantly updating
feed of stories from about 4,000 different news websites.

The Newstracker system is automated. The BBC does not censor or change the
results. But because there are scores of sites covering each story, the BBC has
some rules that help define which sites we link to and in what order these links
appear.

In general, our rules tend to give greater weight to national and international
sources over regional or local ones. We have a policy of only linking to
English-language sites. Once published, this group of links appears on the
right-hand side of the news story.

Some sites will publish stories that we would not so you need to think carefully
about whether your story could dredge up problematic headlines from other sites.
If you are in doubt, talk to your editor.

(16): RESEARCHING STORIES

Well-researched original journalism is a major strength of the website, especially
when we make best use of the medium. We encourage you to bring ideas to the
editorial meetings and pursue them.

There is a wealth of information and expertise in the wider BBC to help you, but
learning where to go takes time.

Here are a few tips:

For UK news stories: A good place to find intro/top line material is in the running
orders of the Radio 4 bulletins or sequence programmes. These are all contained
in ENPS. The running orders of the 1, 6 and 10 o'clock TV news are also useful.

For World stories: The central Bush House core is a constantly updating list of
the top world news stories - a useful reference for your top four paragraphs. The
despatches list is made up of material transcribed from foreign correspondents
and is a key source.

For features: The research gateway can be found at
http://research.gateway.bbc.co.uk/research.gateway.live/main.asp

It includes NEON – a powerful newspaper archive search.

Analysis and Research carries the latest briefing papers. Its material can often
provide the basis of a factbox or instant backgrounder.

Remember, the best kind of research is your own from original sources.
Pick up the phone and contact the experts directly.

Searching the web

The most useful search tool is Google. But certain things are easier to
find using a directory-style search facility like Yahoo.com.

Take time to work out the syntax of your favourite search engine. Most
have a link to advanced searches or help which will explain how to make
your search more specific using AND, OR and NOT, quotes, plus or
minus signs. Google does its best to accept natural language queries -
ie. questions written as full sentences rather than just keywords.

(17): THE LAW
Journalists are expected to have undergone thorough legal training. The BBC
runs regular law courses and refreshers.

There are copies of McNae's Essential Law for Journalists in the office but this
must NOT serve as a substitute for proper legal advice.

If you are unclear about a story refer up to your editor and/or take legal advice from
the BBC's duty lawyer. They can be contacted on 82220 or 82200. Their mobile
number will be on the day’s newsgathering gird.

Defamation

A defamatory statement is one which would tend to "lower a person in the eyes
of right thinking people generally", cause them to be "shunned or avoided", or
expose them to ridicule.

The person about whom a defamatory statement is made can sue for
compensation for the damage caused to their reputation. They can sue the
publisher in any country where the libel is published. This means that the BBC
can be sued for libel in any country in the world where our website is posted
or can be downloaded, including of course in the UK.

Contempt

Under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, it is a criminal offence to publish anything
which creates a risk that "active" legal proceedings will be seriously prejudiced or
impeded. Criminal cases are active from the time someone is arrested, charged or
a warrant is issued for their arrest.

Once a case becomes active, the BBC policy is to remove any overt links to any
previously published and potentially prejudicial archive material. The content will
usually remain in the archive but in some cases it may be necessary to take further
steps. If in any doubt, consult your editor or the duty lawyer.

The Contempt of Court Act applies only to cases in the UK. Although we cannot be
expected to be aware of the law in every jurisdiction where the website can be read,
contempt laws in this country are stricter than in many other countries. If you are in
any doubt about reporting either a UK or a foreign case, consult your editor.

(18): EMERGENCIES

If you discover a fire or anything suspicious ring the BBC's emergency service on
666 - tell them who you are, where you are and what you have discovered.

In the event of a fire, the fire alarms will sound (continuous ringing). Leave the
building by the nearest safe route. Follow the green emergency exit signs

In the event of a bomb warning or other emergency, move to a safe area and stay
away from windows. Once you are in a safe area, wait for instructions.

Information Line - internal 159 (or 0800 0688 159). This will give you the latest
information about incidents at main BBC buildings. In the event of a major
emergency, updates will also appear on Ceefax page 159 and at
www.bbc.co.uk/159 In a medical emergency, again ring 666.

PUBLICATION PROBLEMS
For any breakdown, call technical support on 57957. If any part of the publishing
system is down for a short period - journalists should continue writing their
stories in ENPS or Word, ready for a quick restart. There is an emergency
system available if the Content Production System fails, but only senior staff are
authorised to use it.

OBITUARIES
For a royal death there is a strict protocol to be observed. This is detailed on the
intranet - make sure you know what constitutes official confirmation and how
to proceed. With some key personalities such as the Queen there is a special
section to be published. This will be the responsibility of the most senior journalist
on duty but it is useful for everyone to be familiar with the process.

Many obituaries are pre-written and exist in a hidden section of the CPS in a
special template. Their identity numbers are detailed on the intranet.

These stories will not be available to the public until the template has been
changed and made live. If you make a mistake, taking an obituary away from an
index will NOT remove it from the archive. The file will still be available via the
search engine.

COMPLAINTS
If you receive a serious complaint by phone you must address it immediately. Be
calm and polite, take a note of the complainant details and the nature of the
complaint, and inform them how and when they will be contacted. In the first
instance, refer up to your editor. DO NOT be tempted to make an immediate
change to a story or remove it until you know all the details. You may make things
worse and signal a degree of culpability where none exists.

Occasionally people call in to try to persuade us to change facts, add or
subtract comments or links. You must resist attempts to deflect us from the
journalistic values outlined earlier in this booklet. If they have a genuine
grievance then we must act fairly and promptly.

E-mail complaints are regularly checked and dealt with – the most serious
are answered within 10 days and there is an escalation process for the most
urgent.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Training within BBC News is the responsibility of a number of people. The Online
team has a small training unit which provides a variety of courses to help you
work efficiently. We also arrange swap days and attachments with other areas of
BBC News.

It is an ever-changing environment and journalists need to be adaptable and
open to learning new software packages and ways of working.

The BBC’s College of Journalism has an excellent website with training modules
and case studies - http://college.gateway.bbc.co.uk/journalism

BBC News runs a variety of training events. Examples include Writing for TV News,
Law for the Internet, Chairing an Editorial Meeting, Managing Your Career,
technical training in News systems such as Jupiter and VCS Dira, as well as the
sharing of best practice through editorial and technical masterclasses.

BBC News also runs a mentoring scheme to help people learn from more
experienced staff. The scheme includes BBC Sport and BBC TV.

APPENDIX 1: FAQ
The BBC is a huge organisation. Even simple things like finding your way around
and knowing who to contact can be a bewildering experience. Your colleagues
are often best placed to answer questions.

This Q&A should help you with some common queries.

How do I find someone else in the BBC? On Gateway there is a link called Find
BBC staff. Clicking on this gives you access to a search tool to help find the
relevant person or department. You can also call 001 and say the name of the
person you want to contact. If you speak clearly and the name is recognised, the
extension will ring for you. Alternatively, you can call the switchboard on 100 or
look in the contact list on your e-mail. Some of our key department numbers are
listed in the back of this booklet. There is also a ‘live phonebook’ list on our intranet
which will give you the number of any one logged on to a department computer.

I'm stuck in CPS. Where can I get help?
There is a link on the left hand navigation of the intranet which provides crib
sheets for most of the tasks in CPS. Basic training with a follow-up session will be
offered to you when you join the department. In practice, your colleagues will
often help you.

Where are BBC departments located?
BBC offices are spread throughout the UK and the world. The News hub is based
in London in three main buildings - Television Centre (TVC) in Shepherd's Bush,
Broadcasting House (BH) near Oxford Circus, and Bush House (home of the
World Service) in The Strand. The News division is due to move the majority of its
operations to an expanded Broadcasting House by 2013. To contact anyone in
these buildings you can use Gateway or the BBC's e-mail system.

Is my progress monitored and can I get more training?
Yes. The BBC operates a formal appraisal system once a year which is reviewed
at intervals. This is an opportunity to discuss progress, set objectives and
identify training needs. Your line manager will explain the system in more detail
and tell you who will conduct your appraisal.

Can I get transport to and from the BBC?
If you are working unsociable shifts you may be entitled to transport to get to or

from work but this depends on the time of your shift and whether you live within a
30-mile radius of your workplace. There is also a shuttle bus which takes staff
between London buildings. Full details on eligibility and how to book transport
are on Gateway at
http://finance.gateway.bbc.co.uk/procurement/transport/main.html

My workstation is uncomfortable. What can I do?
Speak to your team DSE (Display Screen Equipment) Assessor or speak to your
line manager for details of your local safety co-ordinator. Your line manager will be
able to organise a workstation assessment for you to make sure you are working
safely.

How do I find out if I can claim expenses?
Again, the department's unit manager or management assistant are the first
point of contact.

Where can I find information about new jobs in the BBC or attachments?
Online organises swap days when journalists can work in another section to
help familiarise themselves with the whole department.

Jobs are advertised in the in-house magazine called Ariel and sometimes in
national newspapers. For more details visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/jobs

APPENDIX 2: JARGON BUSTER

Also in the news
An unusual, funny story on the website. Offers light relief from the hard news
agenda. Has its own slot on the front pages of the website, and has its own index.

Alsos or associations
Headlines on the right hand side of a story which link to selections from our own
archive. Not to be confused with index alsos - they do the same job but exist under
the summary of the lead story on an index.

A&R
Analysis and Research. Offers expert advice and research material across a wide
range of subjects http://newstcrs03.tc.nca.bbc.co.uk/

Check
In CPS terms this means that a story exists in a check status. It is finished and
ready to be amended and published by a sub-editor. Sometimes you will be
asked "to save into check" - the exact process will be described in your CPS
training

Clone
A way of copying a story in CPS. Often employed to mark a major
development in a running news story

CPS
Content Production System. The software used to build and order web pages. Also
helps to deliver audio and video to the web.

CoolEdit
Sound editing software on journalists' desktops.

Despatches
Term describing pieces filed by BBC correspondents for World Service radio. The
scripts are transcribed and available on ENPS. Useful source of copy for world
journalists but be aware that some names are spelled phonetically. A despatch is
sometimes referred to as an XN

Elvis
Electronic Visual Image Store - the BBC's database of still images. It is also the
portal to find agency pictures

E-mail alert
If a breaking story is important it will be sent as an e-mail or SMS message to
subscribers of our service

ENPS
Editorial software. Allows journalists to search for agency copy, BBC material,
create and access running orders, and send messages to other users.

FM&T
Future Media and Technology is the BBC department responsible for the design
and the technical development of the website and other platforms.

Jupiter
Pan-BBC News video database. The system enables journalists to find and edit
current and archive video material. It works in conjunction with an editing
programme called Q-cut.

Media On Demand
Multi-skilled team that commissions, creates and processes mostly bespoke video
for the BBC News website.

Millbank
Office at Westminster where BBC political journalists work from.

MPA
Multi-platform authoring. Our software makes it possible for a story to be written
once for multiple outlets.

News update
You may be asked to do your story as a "news update". This refers to a particular
way the story is saved and published and is explained in CPS training

Newsgathering
The central nervous system of BBC News. They assign correspondents to jobs
and control the flow of material both domestically and from around the dozens of
bureaux across the world.

Overtype
A facility in CPS to allow you to change a headline or summary on an index but not
at story level. Useful to avoid clashes with other headlines or to alter the length of a
summary to prevent uneven index pages. A drawback is that an overtype will block
fresh changes appearing so care must be taken to keep up with story
developments.

Plasma
Index management software used to run parts of Ceefax.

Promo
Also called a promo puff - it is a small area on an index page linking to
feature material, picture galleries, analysis or Q&As (See puffbox)

Puffbox
A promotional box on our web pages linking to feature stories or value added
material. They come in various different shapes and sizes. Common ones include
promo puffs, picture puffs (sometimes called Also in the news puffs), icon puffs and
branded puffs.

Radar
Internal site showing a list of the latest published stories around the site. Useful for
index managers.

Ringmain
Material broadcast through the ringmain can be heard on one of the Rolec
channels. If someone wants you to monitor the broadcast they will usually refer
you to a channel number.

Rolec
A piece of hardware that allows journalists to choose between large numbers of
TV and radio feeds at their desktop

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