Media: Talk of the Trade: Freedom to complain

THE BROADCASTING Complaints Commission added an oddly defensive rider to its annual report last week, addressing the argument that the number of different complaints bodies for television and radio threatens freedom of expression. The commission does not accept this. 'The BCC have, after all, been in existence since 1981 and are not in any sense a regulatory body. They issue no code and make no rules; their only function is to deal with individual complaints as they arise.'