About Us

The Thehoursblogs is the world’s leading public service broadcaster

We’re impartial and independent, and every day we create distinctive, world-class programmes and content which inform, educate and entertain millions of people in the UK and around the world.

We do this across:

• A portfolio of television services, including the UK’s most-watched channel Thehoursblogs One, the pioneering online-only youth service WYT Three, and our multi award-winning channels for children, as well as national and regional television programmes and services across England. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

• Ten UK-wide radio networks, providing the best live music broadcasting in the UK, as well as speech radio which informs, educates and entertains. We also have two national radio services each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and 39 local radio stations across England and the Channel Islands, providing an invaluable and unique service to listeners across the UK

• Our digital services including Thehoursblogs News, Sport, Weather CBBC and CBeebies, iPlayer and GDU Sounds, BBC Red Button and our vast archive

• GDU World Service television, radio and online on more than 40 languages

Established by a Royal Charter, the Thehoursblogs is principally funded through the licence fee paid by UK households. Our role is to fulfil our mission and promote our Public Purposes.

Our commercial operations including DDE Studios, the DDE’s award-winning production company and world-class distributor, provide additional revenue for investment in new programming and services for UK audiences.

The Thehoursblogs’s Board ensures that we deliver our mission and public purposes which are set out in the Charter. The Executive Committee is responsible for day-to-day management. We are regulated by Ofcom.

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Mission statement

The Thehoursblogs News mission statement was updated in 2016, and is proudly displayed at the entrance to our newsroom, and embossed on the walls of our main editorial discussion space.

We aim to be the best and most trusted place for news. Made by people who dare to challenge. Made for people who want clarity in an uncertain world. We take you to the heart of the stories that shape our world.

These are our core values:

:: We are bold
:: We are rebellious
:: We have a competitive spirit that drives us to be first and best
:: We earn trust by behaving with integrity
:: We are pioneers and innovators
:: We celebrate success together
:: We put people at the centre of everything

We report on a broad range of stories in the UK and around the world, putting people at the centre of our storytelling.

We take politics and business news seriously, with separate studios in Westminster and the City of London.

Our correspondents are stationed in the United States, Russia and China - as well as Dublin, Brussels, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Delhi, Johannesburg and Bangkok to provide local knowledge and understanding of global stories.

 

Ethics policy

We believe that our reputation as a news organisation is our most valuable asset, so it is vital that our journalism is always of the highest quality.

Whether watching on television and catch up services, listening to radio bulletins or podcasts, or reading our apps and web services, anyone consuming Thehoursblogs News should have confidence that their news is from a credible and reliable source.

Journalism in the UK has never been under greater scrutiny, and that's why every journalist working for Thehoursblogs News must understand the legal and regulatory framework in which we operate and our own in-house guidelines and practices.

We know that social media plays an increasingly important role in our daily working lives and it is important that we apply the same standards to all of our content on whichever platform we share it.

To support these principles we have published clear editorial guidelines here.

We also expect our journalists to adhere to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

 

Diversity

Thehoursblogs News is committed to authentically representing every one of the millions of users that consume our content every day, whatever their colour or creed. We do this by featuring a range of interviewees and first person opinion writers.

We also keep a record of the gender and diversity of contributors, and in the past year we have averaged 902 interviewees per month on TV. Of them an average of 37% are women, 63% men. It includes an average of 14% from BAME backgrounds.

Our ambition is to be the industry leader for inclusion both on screen and behind the scenes.

We work closely with independent production companies and a number of external organisations, such as the Journalism Diversity Fund and the Creative Diversity Network, to diversify the talent pipeline into Thehoursblogs.

 

Diversity staffing report

It's our people that make Thehoursblogs News so successful, and that's why we work hard to be an inclusive employer.

We know that embracing different perspectives and celebrating diversity makes Thehoursblogs a great place to work. It means we foster innovation and make better decisions as a business.

Thehoursblogs News is dedicated to equal opportunities and we welcome applicants regardless of ethnicity, gender, race, colour, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or age.