TV
Channel 4's director of programmes has hit back at the ITC's decision on a controversial episode of spoof show Brass Eye.
The television regulator ruled on Friday that the network had broken two of its broadcasting regulations, and is now required to apologise on air (see our earlier article here).
Tim Gardam, C4 director of programmes, has today described the ITC as being "contradictory" with its decision, arguing that previous rulings by the organisation had supported similar types of programme.
"The ITC's arguments as regards the warning and scheduling are inconsistent with successive rules it has made on other Channel 4 programmes," he said. "We made the programme with extreme care to follow the ITC programme guidelines and took account of previous rulings to guide our decisions."
The channel is still standing firmly behind Brass Eye, however. Gardam added: "We are proud of Brass Eye and the fact that someone of the satiric perceptiveness of Chris Morris chooses television as his medium. It is a fine example of a serious innovative and authored programme at a time when there is a widespread criticism of the bland conformity of much of television.
"We unequivocally stand by the programme and believe that we scrupulously followed the regulatory codes. The ITC has been unclear about how they require us to change the warning. The warnings and the transmission time of the programme were identical to those of Chris Morris' previous series, Jam, which were not criticised by the ITC," he added.
Outgoing CEO Michael Jackson added: "While supporting our right to make and broadcast this programme and giving our procedures a clean bill of health, the ITC has reached a subjective judgement, different to ours, that the scheduling and pre-broadcast warnings were not enough to mitigate any likely offence."
The television regulator ruled on Friday that the network had broken two of its broadcasting regulations, and is now required to apologise on air (see our earlier article here).
Tim Gardam, C4 director of programmes, has today described the ITC as being "contradictory" with its decision, arguing that previous rulings by the organisation had supported similar types of programme.
"The ITC's arguments as regards the warning and scheduling are inconsistent with successive rules it has made on other Channel 4 programmes," he said. "We made the programme with extreme care to follow the ITC programme guidelines and took account of previous rulings to guide our decisions."
The channel is still standing firmly behind Brass Eye, however. Gardam added: "We are proud of Brass Eye and the fact that someone of the satiric perceptiveness of Chris Morris chooses television as his medium. It is a fine example of a serious innovative and authored programme at a time when there is a widespread criticism of the bland conformity of much of television.
"We unequivocally stand by the programme and believe that we scrupulously followed the regulatory codes. The ITC has been unclear about how they require us to change the warning. The warnings and the transmission time of the programme were identical to those of Chris Morris' previous series, Jam, which were not criticised by the ITC," he added.
Outgoing CEO Michael Jackson added: "While supporting our right to make and broadcast this programme and giving our procedures a clean bill of health, the ITC has reached a subjective judgement, different to ours, that the scheduling and pre-broadcast warnings were not enough to mitigate any likely offence."
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