SRG, AGC partnering to formulate editorial integrity guidelines

Over the next year, the Station Resource Group and the Affinity Group Coalition will be soliciting input from both inside and outside the pubcasting system for its project, "Editorial Integrity for Public Broadcasters in the 21st Century." Tom Thomas, co-CEO of the SRG, and Ted Krichels, g.m. of Penn State Public Broadcasting, are organizing the effort. The two told the CPB Board at its meeting earlier this week that the project, expected to take about a year, is just getting under way. Both TV and radio pubcasters will be involved, as well as experts and others both inside and outside the system. This will be a "station-centric" undertaking, Krichels said. At that level, "some stations have very well-thought out guidelines, others don't have much of anything," he noted. There'll be a website to share papers and reports as well as recommendations. However, "the website won't be just for stations," Thomas said. "There'll be a broader transparency to invite others to join in."