What is due impartiality in broadcasting?
A regulatory requirement on UK broadcasters to treat matters of political or industrial controversy and current public policy with impartiality — and the word "due" is doing essential work, because it means impartiality appropriate to the subject, not equal time for every view.
Where it comes from. The Ofcom Broadcasting Code, applying to television and radio. The BBC has additional obligations under its Charter and its own editorial guidelines.
Crucially, it applies to broadcasting only. UK newspapers have no impartiality requirement at all and are free to be openly partisan — which is why a newspaper can endorse a party and a broadcaster cannot, and why comparisons between the two are frequently confused.
What "due" means. Ofcom's guidance is explicit that due impartiality does not require equal time or that every view be represented. What is "due" depends on the subject, the programme's nature, the audience's expectations, and the nature of the views.
This matters most for established fact. Presenting a well-evidenced scientific position alongside a fringe contrary view as though equally weighted is not impartiality — it is false balance, and it misinforms. Broadcasters have been criticised, notably over climate coverage, for exactly this, and guidance has shifted to reflect it.
What the rules actually require: a range of significant views on controversial matters; not promoting the broadcaster's own opinion on policy; particular care on major matters, where impartiality may need to be preserved within a single programme rather than across a series.
Where flexibility exists: authored and personal-view programmes are permitted provided they are clearly signalled; impartiality can be achieved across a series of linked programmes; and it does not apply to non-controversial subjects.
Election periods bring stricter rules on coverage of candidates and parties.
The criticisms from both directions: that it produces bland coverage avoiding necessary conclusions; that it entrenches a narrow establishment consensus about which views are "significant"; and, conversely, that broadcasters apply it inconsistently.
Complaints go to the broadcaster first, then to Ofcom, which can require corrections and impose sanctions.