Media Regulation

MEDIA REGULATION

1) What is regulation and why do media industries need to be regulated?

--> Regulation is a set of rules provided to ensure that organisations operate fairly. In the media industry, there are several regulatory bodies that exist to monitor the way that their industries work. Broadcast media(TV and Radio) are regulated by OFCOM- the Office of Communication and the advertising industry is regulated by Advertising Standards Authority.

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2) What is OFCOM responsible for?

--> OFCOM is responisble for the regulations of television, radio, telephone services and some aspects of the internet. Most relevant are TV and Radio.

3) Look at the section on the OFCOM broadcasting code. Which do you think are the three most important sections of the broadcasting code and why?

--> One of the most important broadcasting code I think is Protecting the under-eighteens. This is because young people are very vunerable and can easily be traumitized by what the see online. Therefore, making sure under-eighteens do not access certain things means they will not get influenced by inappropiate things.

Second most important I think is Religon. Nowadays people have strong opinions on religion so therefore if certain religions are protrayed in the wrong way then the viewer will not watch it. Furthermore, it will make uneducated people believe it is true.

Third most important is Harm and Offence. This is because, people get offended really easily and cartains might target certain groups or certain types of people which they will get offended by. Also, uneducated people might believe and cause harm towards these people. 

  

4) Do you agree with OFCOM that Channel 4 was wrong to broadcast 'Wolverine' at 6.55pm on a Sunday evening? Why?

--> Yes, I do think they were wrong because it had a lot of violence and inappropriate scenes.Therefore, making it very inappropiate for childrens. Also, to play shows like that it should be viewed later on in the evening when children are asleep.

5) List five of the sections in the old Press Complaints Commission's Code of Practice. 
Section 1: Accuracy
Section 2: Opportunity to reply
Section 3: Privacy
Section 4: Harassment 
Section 5: Intrusion into grief and shock

6) Why was the Press Complaints Commission criticised?

--> The PCC were criticised because they lacked statutory power. They had no power on what newspapers published on there pages and if they violated and codes. They would only get an apology out of it which came out very weak.

7) What was the Leveson inquiry and why was it set up?

--> The Leveson inquiry was an inquiry into the culture, practice, and ethics of the press. This is because of the phone-hacking scandal.

8) What was the PCC replaced within 2014?

-->In 2014, the PCC was replaced by the Independant Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)

9) What is your opinion on press regulation? Is a free press an important part of living in a democracy

or should newspapers face statutory regulation like TV and radio?

-->My opinion on press regulation is that it should be very strict on what it sometimes releases. Some stories are very vulnerable and inappropiate to some people and should not people released. For example, stories that talk explicity about male or female parts should be completely band.The Sun for example use to do it until it was band. However, free press is important to find out the truth behid a story and therefore, regulations should only be put on stories that have no meaning.

10) Why is the internet so difficult to regulate? 

-->I think the internet is so difficult to regulated because nowadays people use private windows so that no one see the history. Furthermore, people are so hooked onto social media that nowadays putting regulation on something has no meaning because someone will end up hacking the system. The interet gives people access to everything therefore, they do not care what they do on it.