Media regulation: blog task, factsheet 128

1) Regulation is a system that monitors the way industries work. Systems of regulations are requires to provide rules and regulations to ensure that organisations operate fairly. E.g. Broadcast media (TV and Radio) are regulated by OFCOM. The media needs to be regulated to ensure that no ones privacy is invaded or they aren't advertising fake news. The media regulators are organisations that the audiences can turn to if they don't agree with something or aren't happy with something. If this is the case, media regulators must provide a set of tough consequences for media organisations that break the rules, but they do also need a balance of interests of media producers and protect freedom of expression.

2) OFCOM is responsible for regulation broadcast media such as TV and Radio. The OFice of COMmunication is responsible for regulating television, radio, telephone services and some other aspects of the internet. They are also responsible for granting licenses to TV and Radio stations. OFCOM is an example of Statutory Regulation. They also handle complaints.

3) In my opinion, the three most important sections of broadcasting code are:

• Section 1: Protecting the Under-Eighteens- This is because I believe that children under 18 are still vulnerable and if they are exposed to specific content which may have a negative impact this could influence them the wrong thing to do. E.g. Extremists Sites. 
• Section 4: Religion- This is because nowadays society is quite diverse and has become more accepting of different faiths and cultures, so racism in content won't be taken lightly, so this needs to be regulated to ensure viewers that the media is fair and accepting.
• Section 8: Privacy- This is because it generally isn't nice to have your private documents invaded and exploited, you could have private documents which may be an asset to you. People would lose trust and faith in the media if this happened and wouldn't watch these broadcasts anymore.

4) I agree with OFCOM that Channel 4 was wrong to show "Wolverine" to a significant extent. This is because Channel 4 is an established TV broadcasts, which should really know the broadcasting code. The fact that they still showed the movie even though they knew they aren't allowed they still did, which is clearly wrong and lowers their rating of being well established. However, the TV viewers are also wrong to 'assume' that the movie would be family friendly, this is because it's a weekend so they might put something with more action on and they should have been more wary about the warning at the start of the movie.

5) An example of 5 sections in the old PCC are:

• Section 1: Accuracy
• Section 2: Opportunity to reply
• Section 3: Privacy*
• Section 4: Harassment*
• Section 5: Intrusion Into Grief and Shock

6) They were criticised for the lack of statutory powers, meaning that when a newspaper breaks the rules. Many newspapers seem to fly in the face of the rules on a pretty regular basis and very little is done to stop them.

7) The Leveson Enquiry was an enquiry into "culture,practice and ethics of the press" . This was the result of the so-called phone hacking scandal. It also looked at other aspects of press behaviour that were considered questionable.

8) In 2014, the PCC was replaced by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (ISPO). It was set up by the newspaper industry itself and had the same code of practice as the PCC.

9) I believe that press regulation is a good thing to do, this is because it ensures that none of the broadcasting codes are breached and ensures viewers that their privacy etc isn't exploited. I believe that newspapers should face statutory regulation like TV and Radio,because they are public. There is no point having statutory regulations for TV and Radio if you have free press for newspapers. 

10) The internet is difficult to regulate because there is so much content that can't be stopped from viewing which is harmful such as extremist sites. Also, viewers can be exposed to several different types of content and especially children are vulnerable so won't know what they are watching.