Media, Journalism & Public Broadcasting — Governance Five™ © Public-Value Governance Guide

In media and broadcasting settings, Governance Five™ © is used as a repeatable non-editorial decision-to-delivery flow. It focuses on questions such as:

• How public-interest, harm-minimisation and democratic values are expressed in governance terms, not only as editorial slogans.
• How participation and voice are organised between editorial leadership, boards, standards units, communities and affected groups.
• How evidence, impact assessments, risk and lived experience are aggregated before major non-editorial decisions and reforms.
• How public claims about independence, trust, diversity, inclusion and accountability are grounded in governance evidence.

The Governance Five™ Flow is:

• Govern – Clarify non-editorial principles, objectives and boundaries (public value, independence, safety, harm minimisation, diversity, civic mission, accountability).
• Engage – Identify who must be heard before major non-editorial decisions – editorial leaders, standards units, legal teams, board members, communities, audience representatives, affected groups – and record how they are engaged.
• Aggregate – Bring together research, complaints, impact assessments, audience data, risk information and lived experience into a clear non-editorial basis for decisions.
• Deliver – Align governance instruments, policies, processes, oversight forums, training and public communications with what was agreed in the Govern / Engage / Aggregate stages.
• Evolve – Use complaints, corrections, reviews, inquiries, independent research and audience feedback to adjust governance settings and document what changed and why.

This flow can be applied at the level of a newsroom, public broadcaster, multi-brand media group or specific initiative (for example election coverage, public-interest campaigns or investigations). Editorial freedom, legal rights and regulatory frameworks remain independent.

Governance Five™ © is concerned with how non-editorial decisions are structured, documented and traced – particularly when they affect:

• Public-interest and democratic-role framing – how missions, charters and values move from statements into governance decisions.
• Resource and commissioning choices – how priorities, beats and coverage areas are supported and justified beyond day-to-day editorial calls.
• Representation, diversity & inclusion – how commitments around who is seen, heard and centred are governed.
• Complaints, corrections & learning – how lessons from errors or harm are embedded into governance, not just case files.
• Trust, independence & influence – how boundaries with governments, owners, sponsors and powerful actors are clarified and made traceable.

The Governance Five™ Flow – Govern → Engage → Aggregate → Deliver → Evolve™ © – provides a single authored, licensed non-editorial governance structure that can be applied without altering legal, editorial or regulatory mandates.

For newsrooms and investigative units, Governance Five™ can support non-editorial governance of:

• how “public interest” is defined and interpreted at governance level,
• how sensitive coverage (for example trauma, disasters, vulnerable communities) is supported by governance principles,
• how patterns in complaints, corrections and feedback are aggregated beyond individual stories,
• how training and capability-building are linked to governance commitments, not only compliance modules.

Editorial decisions about stories, angles and headlines remain the responsibility of journalists and editors under their codes, laws and professional frameworks. Governance Five™ structures the non-editorial governance around those responsibilities.

Public broadcasters and charter-based media organisations can apply Governance Five™ to non-editorial governance of:

• how charter obligations and public-value principles are operationalised in governance forums,
• how independence from governments, owners and sponsors is articulated and protected at governance level,
• how audience research, trust metrics and complaints are aggregated into strategic decisions,
• how public statements about impartiality, diversity and universality link to governance evidence.

Statutory charters, licence conditions and editorial codes remain intact. Governance Five™ offers a method-origin governance flow for how those obligations are interpreted, combined and made visible in non-editorial decisions.

Commercial broadcasters, publishers and multi-platform media groups can use Governance Five™ to structure non-editorial governance around:

• how boundaries between editorial content, advertising, sponsorship and branded partnerships are defined and upheld,
• how conflicts of interest and perceived influence are considered and documented,
• how commercial strategies are aligned with public-value and harm-minimisation commitments,
• how explanations to audiences about commercial relationships are supported by governance records.

Contractual arrangements, advertising standards and competition law remain governed by existing frameworks. Governance Five™ operates at the non-editorial governance layer above them.

Community media, local outlets and independent publishers can apply Governance Five™ to non-editorial governance of:

• how community voice, local priorities and cultural values are reflected in governance settings,
• how volunteers, contributors and partners are engaged, supported and listened to,
• how limited resources are prioritised with transparent reasoning,
• how local trust, representation and inclusion commitments are tracked over time.

Governance Five™ does not prescribe political, cultural or editorial positions. It structures how non-editorial choices about participation, transparency and fairness are governed.

Complaints, corrections and fact-checking processes are core to media accountability. Governance Five™ can support non-editorial governance by helping organisations:

• clarify principles for corrections, apologies and updates at governance level,
• aggregate patterns in complaints and corrections across programs and brands,
• link reforms and training to the Evolve stage of the governance flow,
• explain publicly how governance learning has occurred without disclosing confidential details.

Governance Five™ does not adjudicate accuracy, bias or fairness; those remain matters for editors, regulators, courts and complaints bodies. It structures how non-editorial learning and repair are governed.

Media decisions can profoundly affect how groups are portrayed and how harm is experienced. Governance Five™ supports non-editorial governance of:

• how representation and diversity goals are translated into governance objectives and processes,
• how affected communities are engaged in non-editorial forums (for example advisory panels, dialogue sessions),
• how evidence on harm, stigma, stereotyping or exclusion is aggregated and responded to,
• how trade-offs and constraints are documented when perfect coverage outcomes are not possible.

Governance Five™ does not define cultural, ethical or political positions. It provides a transparent governance method for how organisations choose to operationalise their stated principles.

During emergencies, disasters and crises, media and public broadcasters play critical roles. Governance Five™ can help organisations govern how they:

• clarify non-editorial principles for safety, verification and harm minimisation,
• coordinate with public-authority communications within lawful and ethical boundaries,
• aggregate lessons from past coverage into improved preparedness,
• align public explanations of roles and responsibilities with governance evidence.

Incident response, emergency management and law-enforcement decisions remain the responsibility of appropriate authorities. Governance Five™ focuses on non-editorial governance around how media organisations prepare for, support and reflect on their public-safety role.

Many jurisdictions have press councils, media regulators, classification authorities, ombudsman bodies and complaints schemes. Governance Five™ can complement (not replace) these arrangements by helping organisations:

• make internal non-editorial governance pathways visible before external scrutiny occurs,
• trace public statements and commitments back to governance decisions and evidence sets,
• show who was engaged, what information was aggregated and how trade-offs were considered,
• turn findings, reports and recommendations from independent bodies into structured adjustments across the five stages.

Governance Five™ cannot investigate concerns, adjudicate complaints, determine breaches of codes or provide legal or regulatory advice. Those roles remain with regulators, courts, ombudsman bodies, press councils, professional associations and media organisations under their own frameworks.

It offers a structured, licensed governance method that organisations may reference when demonstrating traceability, lawful origin and public-value reasoning around their non-editorial decisions and narratives.

About its role

• “We use Governance Five™ © as a non-editorial governance framework to organise how non-operational decisions, participation and documentation are structured around our existing legal, editorial and regulatory obligations.”
• “Governance Five™ helps us show the path from mandate to engagement, aggregation, delivery and learning for initiatives that affect audiences, communities and public trust.”
• “It is a licensed governance system, not legal, regulatory or editorial advice. It complements, but does not replace, our jurisdiction’s media laws, editorial codes and complaints frameworks.”

About potential non-editorial benefits

• “Using Governance Five™ may improve visibility and traceability across complex editorial-support, standards and governance processes.”
• “It can reduce ambiguity about who is involved, when and under what rules in non-editorial decisions that affect public value, representation and trust.”
• “It helps align engagement, evidence and implementation so that our non-editorial decisions are easier to explain to boards, regulators, standards bodies and audiences.”

About boundaries

• “Governance Five™ does not provide editorial, legal, regulatory, defamation, privacy, safety or complaints-handling advice and does not alter statutory powers, professional standards or codes of practice.”
• “Decisions of editors, journalists, boards, regulators, ombudsman bodies and courts remain the responsibility of the appropriate authorities under their governing frameworks.”

These examples are informational only and should be reviewed by your own legal, editorial-standards, risk, regulatory and communications advisors before use in any internal or external materials.