Mr Philip Chillag 
[FOI #21908 email] 
 
 
 
 
 
November 24th, 2009 
 
 
Dear Mr Chillag 
 
Freedom of Information request – RFI20091471 
 
Thank you for your request to the BBC of October 25th, requesting information under the Freedom of 
Information Act 2000 about the political and ethnic make-up of the studio audience of the edition of 
Question Time broadcast on October 22nd.  
   
Please note that your request is outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”) but 
we are happy to inform you that the Question Time audience reflects the people of the area. Question 
Time audiences are a broad and balanced cross-section wherever we are in the country. The programme 
aims to provide a wide range of views across the political spectrum and the audience selection supports 
that. You can also find out more about how the BBC selects the Question Time audience at the following 
website: 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4200000/newsid_4202800/4202877.stm 
This article was written by Ric Bailey, now the BBC’s Chief Political Adviser, but what he wrote still holds. 
 
In case you are interested, the Executive Editor of Question Time has written about this edition of 
Question Time on the Editors’ Blog: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/10/nick_griffin_on_question_time.html 
 
We hope this is helpful. The information you have requested is excluded from the Act because it is held for 
the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature.’  The BBC is therefore not obliged to provide this information 
to you but has volunteered the information on this occasion.  Part VI of Schedule 1 to FOIA provides that 
information held by the BBC and the other public service broadcasters is only covered by the Act if it is 
held for ‘purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature”.  The BBC is not required to supply 
information held for the purposes of creating the BBC’s output or information that supports and is closely 
associated with these creative activities.  
 
You may not be aware that one of the main policy drivers behind the limited application of the Act to 
public service broadcasters was to protect freedom of expression and the rights of the media under Article 
10 European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”).  The BBC, as a media organisation, is under a duty 
to impart information and ideas on all matters of public interest and the importance of this function has 
 

---

been recognised by the European Court of Human Rights.  Maintaining our editorial independence is a 
crucial factor in enabling the media to fulfil this function.  
 
Appeal Rights 
 
The BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the Act.  If 
you disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are: 
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF telephone 
01625 545 700. http://www.ico.gov.uk 
 
Please note that should the Information Commissioner’s Office decide that the Act does cover this 
information, exemptions under the Act might then apply. 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
 
Stephanie Harris 
Head of Accountability, BBC News 
 
 
 
 
 
 

---