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Press Releases
Balen report: 91Èȱ¬ successful in High Court challenge
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The High Court today (Friday 27 April) rejected Mr Steven Sugar's challenge to the Information Commissioner's decision that the 91Èȱ¬ does not have to release the Balen report.
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The 91Èȱ¬ has always maintained that the Balen report is held for purposes of journalism and, therefore, outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act. The Information Commissioner agreed.
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We believe that programme makers must have the space to be able to freely discuss and reflect on editorial issues in support of independent journalism.
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The 91Èȱ¬ also welcomes the High Court's clarification that, in cases where the Information Commissioner agrees with a public service broadcaster that the information sought is outside the scope of the FOI Act, there is no appeal to the Information Tribunal.
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The Balen report was commissioned by the former 91Èȱ¬ Director of News, Richard Sambrook, from an experienced journalist. It was always intended as an internal review of programme content, to inform future output. It was never intended for publication.
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The 91Èȱ¬'s action in this case had nothing to do with the fact that the Balen report was about the Middle East – the same approach would have been taken whatever area of news output was covered.
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The 91Èȱ¬ engages with the public in debating issues of editorial impartiality in other ways, including through subject-based independent impartiality reviews as part of the 91Èȱ¬ Trust's role in ensuring the 91Èȱ¬'s editorial standards and monitoring its output.
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This continues the programme introduced by the former 91Èȱ¬ Board of Governors which included publication in 2006 of the independent impartiality review of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict conducted by Sir Quentin Thomas's panel.
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91Èȱ¬ Press Office
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