EDITORIAL MISSION

Wyoming PBS is dedicated to the production and distribution of quality documentary programming about Wyoming and subjects affecting the people in this state and beyond. Wyoming PBS producers are trusted to craft entertaining and informative content that informs, entertains and challenges viewers.

For purposes of this policy, Wyoming PBS shall be referred to hereinafter as “WPBS.”  Also, there may be exceptions to this policy in the case of “contract productions”, when WPBS may contract with another entity or agency to produce a program or series of programs, and under those contracts, WPBS may or may not have total editorial control of the productions.  In general, however, all productions with a WPBS copyright in which WPBS does maintain editorial control, and which is designed for broadcast or other media distribution by WPBS, will be held to the following best practices for editorial standards.

EDITORIAL STANDARDS

These guidelines represent a distillation of the standards and practices that have helped nonfiction producers in the past.   Producers are encouraged to seek the advice or guidance of the Executive Producer or station management when in doubt.

FAIRNESS

1. All of the nonfiction programs produced by WPBS rest on the expectation that WPBS producers, whether salaried or on contract, are interested in honest inquiry into the subjects selected for documentary production and will approach the making of programs with an open mind. Since publication of truthful, accurate information is a requisite of WPBS nonfiction, locally-produced programs, it should be clear that willful misrepresentation or falsification of program content will be considered unprofessional conduct and will carry the severest consequences.
2. In the pursuit of truthful information, the WPBS producer must be sensitive to issues of fairness, and the appearance of fairness, if the program is to have credibility. Truth is an elusive combination of fact and opinion, of reason and experience. We ask for the viewer's trust. In turn, we promise that the subject matter and the people in the program will be treated fairly.
3. When there are conflicting viewpoints or opinions on subjects treated within a journalistic program, fairness does not require that equal time be accorded to conflicting opinions. However, it does require the acknowledgment of, and responsible statement of, those conflicting opinions.
4. All producers must have a fact-checking procedure at the completion of the program in which every line of narration, soundbite and image is checked for the accuracy of any factual assertion.

FUNDING A PROGRAM

5. Best practice dictates that producers should be distanced from potential funders to the greatest extent possible. Once a project is funded, producers should try and avoid contact with funders except for promotional purposes. The editorial integrity of a program demands that the funder not become a part of the editorial process. If it becomes necessary for a producer to interact with a funder at any point in time, it is appropriate to discuss the importance of the issue, the amount of research done, possible approaches to stories, and a producer's qualifications to make the documentary.  

6. It is inappropriate to promise to include or exclude particular information or characters; it is inappropriate to promise to give more or less weight to any particular aspect of a program; and it is inappropriate to commit to a particular film or program architecture.

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION

Edit to Compress, Not Distort

7. WPBS relies on the honesty of the individual producer in editing any programs,  program segments, or any other interstitial element to be aired or distributed as a  WPBS production.
8. It should be the objective of the editing process to collect and order all significant facts in a manner that fairly portrays the subject. Whether or not this objective has been achieved cannot be known simply from looking at the result. Thus, a producer might ask him/herself, would he or she be able to defend a particular cut if others had access to the original materials.

Consider Sources

9. Producers are free to exercise their editorial judgment as to which characters are best suited to advance a story line and which sources are best able to present the information the program seeks to deliver. 

Do Not Alter Still Photos

10. Photos used in public affairs programs should not be altered. Altering involves adding, subtracting or rearranging the elements in a photo and should not be done without disclosure to the viewer.
11. However, some techniques commonly used with stills are not considered alterations. These include: camera moves, cropping, color enhancement, highlighting a portion of a photo, computer layering, etc.

Use Computer Generated Imaging (CGI) with Care

12. The power of the computer to alter and create images offers many opportunities to enhance all forms of communication. In the nonfiction world, however, there is danger that the computer can be used to create images and graphic effects that cross the boundary between creative license and misrepresentation. Misrepresentation can occur when images are presented as “real” when, in fact, they are artificial. If a viewer could reasonably believe the images created by CGI are real, then the technique should be avoided. Disclosure to the viewer is recommended with any type of re-creation, whether CGI, dramatic or some combination.

Do Not Pre-Screen for Interested Parties, but be Prepared for Legal Review

13. The broadcast, or, if approved by WPBS, the pre-broadcast release of a program at a film festival or theater, must be its first publication. Pre-screenings for reviewers and the showing of samplers and occasionally the whole program for publicity purposes, if approved by the Executive Producer or WPBS management, are established practices, but those are the only recognized exceptions to a firm rule that prohibits others--and most especially participants and funders--from seeing a program before its first publication.
14. Producers should anticipate a legal as well as editorial review of their work. Legal review may deal with the issue of “fair use” of copyrighted material, so all material must meet the “fair use” tests, and all necessary logs, credits and releases must be secured.
15. All materials generated and gathered during WPBS production are the property of the producers and sources. No production materials are available for review to anyone outside the WPBS production team.

Conflict of Interest

16. Any employee of WPBS with a content-related role in a WPBS production who has a material interest – financial, family, political or personal – in a subject of primary or secondary relevance to the documentary must disclose that interest to the producer and the station manager, who will judge whether that interest represents a conflict of interest. If in the judgment of the producer and the station manager the conflict is substantial, the employee will not participate in the production; in other cases, the producer must disclose any institutional conflict of interest to the audience. If a potential conflict involves the producer or the station manager, and is deemed substantial, that person shall not play a content-related role in the production.

Any on-camera participant in a WPBS production who has a material interest, as defined above, in a subject of primary or secondary relevance to a documentary in which he/she appears, is asked to declare that interest, and if the producer and/or station manager deem it a conflict of interest, it must be disclosed to the audience.

Do not Accept Gifts

17. As a general rule, WPBS should pay the expenses of its producers and staff, and those employees should be insulated from the fundraising that generates WPBS funds. However, to defray costs, producers may negotiate deals for free or reduced airline, hotel, car rental and other services in exchange for a ‘special thanks’ credit. If the entity offering the discount or free service stands to benefit in any material way from the manner in which editorial material is presented in the production, no such arrangements will be allowed. 
  

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Approved 1/17/07;
Reviewed w/ no changes made November 15, 2017;
Reviewed w/ no changes made October 15, 2019;
Revised October 15, 2025