Can compliance be cool?

Born risky

Channel 4 is a boundary-pushing broadcaster that has built a reputation on the idea of being “born risky”. The trouble is, functions like legal and compliance are often associated with saying “no” to risk-taking – especially in the TV industry.

Our task was to overcome content makers’ hesitance to reach out for support, so that Channel 4’s legal and compliance can be there to help in the moments that matter on production.

This is the story of how we did it.

Pushing boundaries

Channel 4 commissions content that takes risks and raises eyebrows. To do this – and to defend that content once it’s out in the world – they have to ensure their programmes comply with Ofcom regulations and the law.

The Legal and Compliance team at Channel 4 support production companies to take risks while creating work that can be broadcast according to UK laws and regulations. While producers don’t need to be able to recite each law in detail, they do need a basic understanding of the potential issues so they know when to ask for help.

Channel 4’s Legal and Compliance team were keen to ensure that their function wasn’t seen as a blocker to ambition, but rather that the team are enablers.

They wanted to tackle any negative perception head on. And they wanted to ensure that producers know when to get in touch, and can feel confident that their creative aspirations will be supported.

The team approached to us to help them reinforce the message to ‘refer up’ when producers are faced with legal or compliance considerations while making content for Channel 4. They also asked us to overhaul Channel 4’s online Producers Handbook.

Taming the Producers Handbook

Like other broadcasters, Channel 4 publishes its legal and regulatory guidelines for content production on its public-facing website. The “Producers Handbook”, as it was called, was a densely packed resource. It contained a total of 120,000 words – that’s the equivalent of a chunky novel – and was structured by law and regulation, which meant a high level of existing knowledge was required to navigate it.

We heard that members of the Legal and Compliance team were directing producers to specific sections of the Producers Handbook, as producers were not expected (or often able) to find information themselves due to the vast amount of unstructured content. Over time, more and more information had been added, but it was becoming less and less useful.

To solve these problems, we recommended a two-pronged approach.

1. First, we’d reorganise the content under headings that would feel more intuitive to non-experts, organised by activity and hyperlinked for easy navigation. And to make it easier to find what you need, we’d add a keyword search function on the home page.
2. Second, we suggested a rebrand: renaming the resource to 4Compliance to align it with the broadcaster’s core values of risk-taking and ambitious programming. Reflecting Channel 4’s tongue-in-cheek brand, the redesigned website introduces a vibrant, (slightly Eurotrash) theme. In hot pink, the new site looks fun, vibrant, and much more ‘4’.

“For people without a legal background, information was hard to find before but now it’s easy.”  
Holly Fairweather, Audience Interaction & Compliance Manager, Channel 4 

Action-oriented: Turning compliance into simple behaviours

But to make 4Compliance really effective, we needed to identify specific behaviours that producers need to adopt.

We wanted them to stop, think and ask questions as the main behaviour. We gave them four questions to ask before acting on content-making decisions:

• Have you discussed your plans with your commissioning editor and Channel 4 legal and compliance adviser?
• Is everyone in the programme being treated fairly?
• Is the content you are making accurate?
• Is what you have planned safe, legal and compliant?

Encouraging producers to refer up

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’ or ‘not sure’, then producers must refer up to the legal and compliance team.

To reinforce the ‘refer up’ message, we created an animation and a new e-module. These help people understand when and how to alert Channel 4 to a potential issue, and how the team would support them through it.

Using Channel 4’s continuity talent, tone of voice and edgy humour, these position the Legal and Compliance team as risk-enablers and champions of boundary-pushing content, ready to help as needed.

The e-module is compulsory for anyone commissioned by Channel 4 but it has been so well-received that the broadcaster now uses it to onboard their new staff as well. “It’s a really useful introduction to our team and the basics of legal and compliance,” says Holly.

She adds: “We’re also finding that a lot of university students are completing the e-module, which we weren’t expecting! The fact that it’s not just production people doing it shows how far and wide the e-module is going.”

“Periodically I get an email from a programme commissioner saying that producers are grateful for this resource. We use it all the time and people quote parts of 4Compliance back to us, which has never happened before!”

Supporting the evolution of Channel 4

Now that 4Compliance is established, the Legal and Compliance team are considering new e-modules to continue unpicking some more key legal and regulatory themes in content production. “E-modules complement the site and work for us,” Holly says.

“We’re rethinking the way we deliver training. We'll be asking people to look at the e-module before they attend sessions with us, so we can go straight into sharing scenarios and getting people to talk about them. This helps us make the sessions more interactive and useful.”