BBC tightens reporting rules

The British Broadcasting Corp. says it is adopting new journalism guidelines in response to strong criticism of its reporting standards from a judicial inquiry.

The broadcaster will immediately impose stricter rules on live reports, the use of anonymous sources and note taking, based on the recommendations of an internal review, BBC director Mark Thompson said.

These issues were raised by a May 2003 report from former BBC radio reporter Andrew Gilligan, who quoted an anonymous source as saying Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration had “sexed up” evidence on Iraqi weapons to justify war.

A subsequent investigation rejected Gilligan’s report and harshly criticized the BBC for slack reporting checks.