▶How it works
BPO consists of three Committees:
The Committee for the Investigation of Broadcasting Ethics
Its roles are to improve the quality of broadcasting by examining programs and to investigate falsified/fabricated programs
The Committee for Broadcast and Human Rights / Other Related Rights
Its role is to aid individuals whose human rights are infringed upon by broadcasting programs
The Committee for Youth Programming
Its role is to improve programs targeting youth and children
Each Committee may issue a decision after its deliberation or proceeding. However, the Committee Decision will not penalize or force broadcasters to take action. When the Committee determines that an ethical problem or an infringement of human rights exists, then the broadcaster concerned shall submit to the Committee a progress report of the corrective measures taken at its own discretion. Such reports will be made public by BPO.
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Broadcasting Ethics Committee
Committee examines opinions from the audience, news and/or report from broadcaster
Committee investigates broadcast and production process
After deliberation, Committee will make
its decision public -
Human Rights Committee
Concerned individual must file a complaint to the Committee
Committee requests broadcaster to submit explanation, then considers the case
If accepted, Committee conducts hearing and deliberation then issue
its decision -
The Youth Committee
Committee examines a program based on the opinions from the audience
Committee requests explanation and exchanges views with broadcaster
Committee issues a Notion which becomes an Opinion with 2/3 majority
▶Organization
Board of Councilors (7 members)
Selects Committee Members
Broadcasting personnel are not qualified
Board of Directors (10 members)
Selects council members, approves annual plan, financial matters etc.
Broadcaster
Broadcasting Ethics
- The Committee for Investigation of Broadcasting Ethics
Human Rights
- The Committee for Broadcast and
Human Rights
Youth Program
- The Committee for Youth Programming
Voices Viewers Listeners
- Claims
- Complaints
- Opinions
Audience
Secretariat：
Supports Committees, prepares materials for the investigations, liaises with broadcasters, and receives voices from the audience.
To ensure impartiality of the organization, members of each Committee are selected by the Board of Councilors, which consists of individuals other than broadcasting company executives or employees. Also, of the ten members of the Board of Directors, the Chairperson and three Directors are selected from a third-party organization. BPO is funded by annual membership fees from NHK, JBA and JBA member broadcasters.
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●The Board of Councilors
The Board of Councilors selects members of the three Committees. The Board of Councilors
is comprised of seven members or less who, like the Committee members, are selected by the Board of Directors from individuals other than broadcasting company executives or employees. -
●The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors selects the Board of Councilors and gives approval to the annual plan, budget and financial statements. The Board is composed of a Chairperson and nine Directors.
The Chairperson is selected from individuals other than current or former broadcasting company executives or employees. The Chairperson selects three Directors from individuals other than broadcaster executives or employees, and NHK and JBA each select three Directors. -
●Secretariat
The Secretariat supports the three Committees by assisting the preparation for the Committee proceedings, investigations, and research. It also receives and compiles complaints and opinions from the audience. Members of the Secretariat may have the broadcasting experiences to support the Committees effectively.
▶BPO History
- Given the public nature of broadcasting and its increasingly significant influence on society, criticism toward broadcasting had been growing. To deal with this situation, in 1997 NHK and JBA established the Broadcast and Human Rights Committee (BRO) to advocate for basic human rights from an independent, third-party standpoint with the power to enforce corrective measures promptly and effectively. In 2000, the Youth Committee was added to deal with problems in broadcasting concerning youth. This was followed by the Programming Committee.
- In 2003, these Committees were integrated into the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO). In 2007, when falsified/fabricated program became a major issue, the Programming Committee was dissolved and then replaced by the Committee for the Investigation of Broadcasting Ethics to deal with both falsified/fabricated programs and broadcasting ethics.
- BPO was established in 2003 by the public broadcaster NHK and JBA, the National Commercial Broadcasters Association and its members.
| Year | History |
|---|---|
| 1965 | NHK and The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association (JBA) establish “Broadcast Improvement Committee” in Broadcast Union |
| 1969 | Broadcast Union was dissolved, and Broadcasting Program Improvement Committee was replaced by Broadcasting Program Improvement Association. |
| 1997 | NHK and JBA establish self-restricting third-party organization BRO (Broadcast and Human Rights / Other Related Rights Organization) and form Broadcast and Human Rights Committee in order to deal with broadcast and human rights issue more promptly. |
| 2000 | The Youth Committee was formed to deal with broadcast and youth-related issues |
| 2002 | Broadcasting Program Improvement Association was reformed into Broadcasting Program Improvement Committee in which Broadcasting Program Committee was formed. |
| 2003 | BPO, Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization, was established by NHK and JBA to ensure autonomy and independence of broadcast, administering three Committees. |
| 2007 | NHK, JBA and BPO agree to reinforce the function of BPO, replacing the Broadcasting Program Committee by the Committee for the Investigation of Broadcasting Ethics, in response to rising public criticism on program fabrication. |