MUMBAI: The BBC has launched its first corporate responsibility report, Living Public Value in the UK.
The report describes how the BBC adds public value through serving its audiences responsibly both on-air and off-air. From Children in Need to pan-BBC initiatives such as Fat Nation, the BBC connects with people throughout the UK to help enrich their lives.
BBC D-G Mark Thompson said, "The BBC's founders believed that broadcasting could make the world a better place. Public intervention would ensure that its astonishing creative power - to enrich individuals with knowledge, culture and information about their world, to build more cohesive communities, to engage the people of the UK and the whole globe in a new conversation about who we are and where we are going - would be put to work to the sole benefit of the public."
Following the pilot project, iCan will be rolled out in the UK. In partnership with do-it.org a key part of the new service will be a portal for people who want to volunteer. The BBC will also develop a pan-BBC policy on human rights in recognition that it operates in countries ith oppressive regimes. The policy will aim to make explicit and reinforce the value of reporting from these countries as well as set the standards to ensure that the BBC itself does not infringe good practice.
Furthermore the BBC will finalise standards for managing its supply chain relationships. Working closely with its commercial divisions, a comprehensive policy will be drawn up addressing ethical purchasing decisions, setting minimum standards for the BBC's suppliers and developing a process to monitor best practice.
Thompson added, "We have recently set out a demanding vision for the BBC's future in Building Public Value. Our values commit us to serve the public interest by being a responsible corporate citizen. This report tells some of the story of how the BBC and its people - day in, day out - are building public value through serving people and acting responsibly through long-held initiatives, programme-linked activities and corporate actions - all of which are integral to our core purpose of enriching people's lives."
