16) Media Regulation

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

Regulation is the rules that are put in place to make the media industry more fair and set standards as to what is permissible (e.g. ensuring people are paid for their work or ensuring the correct audience is being allowed to see specific products). This is necessary for media industries as it prevents the spread of harmful or misleading media. This was supported in the fact sheet by the video “Nasties” which was considered unsafe for children but was still accessible by them as the industry lacked regulation in 1984.  

2) What is OFCOM responsible for?

OFCOM is responsible for regulating media, providing licensing and handling complaints about broadcasting/programmes.

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?

Protecting children - Young children are easily mislead and seeing things unfit for their viewing can have a greater impact on their minds and possibly impact the way their brain develops.

Impartiality - Ensuring that the media is impartial is extremely important as it helps prevent bias/fake news which leads to misinformed viewers.

Harm and Offence - This is useful as we live in a society where people constantly look for reasons to be offended. This also prevents truly harmful/offensive content which is also extremely important as it could impact someone’s mental health if they saw something that impacted them.

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

I disagree. Viewers have freedom of choice, if they saw the movie and deemed it to be too violent for them or for their children then they could switch to another channel. As Channel 4 never specified that this time slot was for family friendly movies, they had no obligation to meet this false expectation and they provided a warning before the movie started to inform people. They said there was violence, if a parent is concerned their child will learn violence from the media then they shouldn’t be giving their child access to view any degree of violence.

5) List five of the sections in the old Press Complaints Commission's Code of Practice. 

Accuracy, Privacy, Reporting of Crime, Violence of SA, discrimination 

6) Why was the Press Complaints Commission criticised?

It was highly ineffective as they had no real power to enforce these rules and therefore they were still being broken constantly without companies experiencing any repercussions. 

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

An enquiry in to the culture, practice and ethics of the press which happened as a result of a phone hacking scandal where a journalist was found to be intercepting calls regarding the royal family. This lead to privacy concerns and concerns about the ethics of news reporters. 

8) What was the PCC replaced with in 2014?

The Independent Press Standard 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?

I believe there should be regulation as it’s important to keep hateful things out of the media. However, i believe excessive regulation should not be put in place as if someone is able to write about what they believe is happening and they can do it without creating fear and hatred, they should be allowed to but with a warning to make viewers aware that what they’re reading is not 100% fact and they should do their own research before consuming the information and immediately agreeing with it. 

10) Why is the internet so difficult to regulate?

The internet is almost impossible to regulate as it isn’t limited in any way as to who is allowed to post things or who is able to see them. People can spread false information on the internet or even hateful things that can be seen globally by other internet users which creates the problem of the level of regulation each country agrees with. There would have to be a mutual agreement among all countries to make this possible.