Credits. Guidance Note. Status of Guidance Note. Key Editorial Standards. Issued: 11 April 2011

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1 Guidance Note Credits Issued: 11 April 2011 Status of Guidance Note This Guidance Note, authorised by the Managing Director, is provided to assist interpretation of the Editorial Policies to which the Guidance Note relates. Guidance notes provide advice to assist in the interpretation of the Editorial Policies, which contain the standards enforceable under the ABC s internal management processes and under the ABC s complaints handling procedures. It is expected that staff will normally act in accordance with the advice contained in Guidance Notes. In a given situation there may be good reasons to depart from the advice. This is permissible so long as the standards of the Editorial Policies are met. In such situations, the matter should ordinarily be referred upwards. Any mandatory referrals specified in Guidance Notes must be complied with. Key Editorial Standards Excerpts of key editorial standards relevant to this Guidance Note are set out below. Other editorial standards may also be relevant, depending on the specific circumstances applying in each case. Commercial references.1 References to trade names, brand names and logos may be made provided that: a the references are editorially relevant in the context; and b the ABC s editorial independence or integrity is not undermined. External funding and relationships.5 Free or discounted products, services or facilities may be accepted to support the creation of content provided that: a there is no obligation imposed on or accepted by the ABC to structure or present any matter with a particular editorial perspective; b prior approval is obtained from an appropriately senior ABC person designated for the purpose; c the independence and integrity of the ABC are fully protected; and d accurate records are kept of what is accepted..6 Any credits acknowledging creative, managerial and financial contributions must be editorially justified and not unduly prominent..7 Ensure appropriate disclosure of any external funding arrangement, and any acceptance of free or discounted products, services or facilities, where the arrangement or acceptance, if it were not disclosed but later became public, may reasonably be perceived to distort the editorial content or otherwise undermine the ABC s independence or integrity. 1

2 Mandatory referral In Television, credit sequences should be referred for approval to an appropriately senior ABC person designated for the purpose. In Radio, on-air or online disclosure in relation to free and discounted goods or services including travel and accommodation must be referred for approval to an appropriately senior ABC Radio person designated for the purpose. Disclosure should be appropriate to the content to which it relates, and sufficiently detailed to enable the audience to adequately evaluate the content in all the relevant circumstances. Scope of this guidance note This Guidance Note relates to content credits, including information about crediting external funding sources and co-production partners. In addition it is also relevant when the producer of a particular product or service has received products or services. Queries about the specific form or style of the ABC logo should be referred to Divisional marketing units; while queries about the use of the ABC name, logos or trademarks should be referred to Divisional policy/governance units. Introduction The role of credits is to acknowledge significant creative, managerial and financial contributors to content as well as those who have given other special assistance. Ensuring the ABC s independence and integrity is paramount. Credits or acknowledgements must not be given in return for any payment, reduced fee, benefit or any other advantage. The ABC will not broadcast any credit which appears to be an advertisement or contains elements which could damage the reputation, independence or integrity of the content and the ABC. Credits or some form of disclosure must always be used where the audience s interpretation of the content being presented might be altered without the proper acknowledgement of a creative, financial or other contribution. Different approaches to crediting are taken within the ABC. For content produced in Television and Innovation it is standard production industry practice to provide a written or logo credit to key contributors. News generally does not run credits on daily programs. For daily current affairs programs, News may acknowledge the program team at the end of the final program for the week. Weekly programs may run credits for the program team. In Radio credits are used less frequently as verbal credits can give greater prominence than intended or warranted than text credits appearing on television or online. Their broadcast is a matter of editorial judgement. The audience is the primary consideration when deciding whether or not to broadcast credits on Radio. Credits for creative contributions from freelancers, guest presenters, artists and 2 ABC Editorial Policies

3 speakers are generally part of regular radio presentation practice and incorporated within introductions and back announcements. Individual staff credits in Radio should be avoided wherever possible. ABC Commercial, in its own content, adheres to the standard industry practice for crediting key contributors, according to the specific sector relevant for the product or service. Acquisitions The ABC has only limited ability to alter the content of acquisitions, including credit sequences, for example if the credits include an advertisement or a reference to a highly commercialised website that carries advertising. Standard practice for audiovisual content is, where possible, to edit out presentation credits e.g. National Geographic presents and to end the closing credit sequence at the point of the copyright notice. In the rare circumstance that audio acquired content contains credits, they should be broadcast unedited. News will acknowledge in credits any co-production arrangements for a program, or if the program is an acquisition from another broadcaster or an external producer. Community service announcements Community service announcements must not be included within a credit sequence. This includes references to an organisation s name, contact details, website urls or campaign slogans. Copyright notices ABC copyright is vested in the Corporation not in particular production units, genres or State/Territory centres. For ABC internal productions, only the following copyright notice should be used: Australian Broadcasting Corporation For co-productions, the same copyright notice should be used in conjunction with the notices of other copyright holders as per contractual arrangements. Free and discounted products, services or facilities Credits cannot be offered to a commercial organisation as a negotiation point i.e. in exchange for the provision of free or discounted products, services or facilities. However, in order to be transparent suppliers of free or discounted products, services or facilities should be acknowledged in the form of a disclosure. In Television and Innovation the following text acknowledgement is used: The [insert ABC or name of production company] acknowledges the free /discounted supply of [insert product or service] by [insert supplier]. ABC Editorial Policies 3

4 For ABC productions, e.g. Poh s Kitchen The ABC acknowledges free or discounted services from the following suppliers: AEG - Electrolux, Miele, Scanpan. For co-productions, e.g. East of Everything Twenty 20 acknowledges the discounted supply of computers by Apple. Similar acknowledgements are used for relevant ABC Commercial products and services. In Radio credits for financial contributions should be considered within introductions and announcements as a form of disclosure to provide the audience with all relevant information by which they can fairly assess the content being presented. In News suppliers of free or discounted products, services or facilities should be credited. Logo credits The inclusion of logos in closing credits of audio-visual content and on websites is highly restricted. In Television approvals are given for the following: the ABC, co-production partners, independent production companies, appropriate cultural agencies and organisations whose core business is the creation of Australian screen content. This is a recognised form of acknowledgement in the content production industry. Appropriate cultural agencies may include federal and state film funding agencies, federal or state arts funding agencies or statutory authorities. Logos which also function to promote or advertise a product or service or form part of an advertising campaign will not be approved. Examples include Lotteries West (who also operate a screen industry fund) and state government tourism logos such as the Victorian Government s Victoria: The place to be logo. An ABC logo must be included in all production credits where a co-production or independent production company s logo is included. Production company logos should not be more prominent than the ABC logo. In addition to the Television list above and subject to divisional approval, online production credits in Radio, Innovation and News may also include logo credits for some private or commercial organisations. These acknowledgements may include links. Text credits and acknowledgements Most contributors to audio-visual content and websites are credited in text form only. Approval for inclusion of a logo in credits is highly restricted see Logo credits. The contributors noted below are credited in the following ways 4 ABC Editorial Policies

5 Private funders, non-film government authorities, charities, foundations: Financed with the assistance of e.g. NAIDOC Awards: Financed with the assistance of the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Third party funders who have contributed to the funding provided by a government authority: The [insert government authority] acknowledges the financial assistance of the [insert third party funder] e.g. The Nelson Meers Foundation: The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the financial assistance of the Nelson Meers Foundation. Sponsors of a public performance may be also acknowledged in credits. The credit must make clear that the sponsorship relates solely to the performance itself and not the broadcast. Thank you credits Thank you credits are given to those who have given other special assistance to a production and are to be approved by the relevant editorial manager. The ABC, co-producer, or independent producer provides a list of organisations, companies and/or individuals who have assisted in a production under the title, Thanks to. Thank you credits for individuals, government, charities or not for profit organisations are generally acceptable. All credits thanking a commercial organisation should be upward referred to an appropriately senior ABC person designated for the purpose. In some instances, editorial managers may decide that an organisation or individual has provided high-level assistance to a production without which the program could not have been made. In these special circumstances, the following credit may be offered -- Filmed with the assistance of e.g. Gallipoli Submarine - Filmed with the assistance of the Submarine Institute of Australia and AE2 Commemorative Foundation Ltd. In Television a thank you credit is not appropriate for those who have provided free or discounted services. These must be given in the form of disclosure - see Free & discounted products, services or facilities. Website urls ABC web addresses (such as abc.net.au) are referenced in content credits. ABC Editorial Policies 5

6 Use of non-abc web addresses in Television credits must have the approval of an appropriately senior ABC person designated for the purpose within the responsible Division. Non-ABC web addresses likely to gain approval for inclusion in credit sequences may include a production company, broadcaster or a distributor that has provided funding. Website addresses must not be in the form of an advertisement or commercial slogan. 6 ABC Editorial Policies

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