Media Regulation

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

Media regulation is the control or guidance of mass media by governments and other bodies. This regulation, via law, rules or procedures, can have various goals, for example intervention to protect a stated "public interest", or encouraging competition and an effective media market, or establishing common technical standards.The principal targets of media regulation are the press, radio and television, but may also include film, recorded music, cable, satellite, storage and distribution technology (discs, tapes etc.), the internet, mobile phones etc. media regulations gives the population an access to more than one side or view of media as it means that not any one person or company can control the media we get to see read and hear allowing us to gather our own opinions and view of media sources from hearing both sides.

2) What is OF COM responsible for?
Of com is the communications regulator in the UK. We regulate the TV, radio and video-on-demand sectors, fixed-line telecoms (phones), mobiles and postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
3) Look at the section on the OF-COM broadcasting code. Which do you think are the three most important sections of the broadcasting code and why?
section 3,4,7,6,8 are to me the most important as they seem to have the most value to people because things like religion, privacy and crime are things that are taken very seriously in today's society and we need a healthy balance of each to keep society functioning properly.

4) Do you agree with OFCOM that Channel 4 was wrong to broadcast 'Wolverine' at 6.55pm on a Sunday evening? Why?
to some extent i agree as the wolverine film is quite graphic and may not be suitable for young kids to watch but wolverine is a marvel character and most children know about marvel and other superhero teams and so they would therefore like to watch a movie such as wolverine as they know the characters. Also the film would've been quite heavily advertised leading up to its showing so parents should've been preparedn for what was coming up

yes, In my opinion, I think that this is wrong from channel 4 because they have shown a movie that has violence, blood and weapon. The time they have shown it is the time when young children are still awake watching television which means that if they suddenly watch this movie then they may get scared or start to worry which could disturb their sleep which means they wont be fully rested for the school day tomorrow. Also, this movie could have an effect on the attitude of the kids such as being violent and using abusive language towards his or her friends or the public.

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?
In recent years, the PCC became the focus of a great deal of controversy. It’s critics claim that the lack of statutory powers means that when a newspaper has been found to breach the rules, the best a victim can hope for is an apology, which often does not get sufficient prominence in the paper. Critics also argue that many newspapers seem to fly in the face of the rules on a pretty regular basis and that very little is done to stop them. It’s defenders point out that a free press is a vital part of a functioning democracy. If statutory rules were imposed, newspapers ability to hold politicians and other people in power to account would be greatly diminished. 

7) What was the Leveson enquiry and why was it set up?
Throughout 2011 and 2012, an inquiry into the “culture, practice and ethics of the press” was held, mainly as a result of the so-called phone hacking scandal. In January 2007, Clive Goodman (the royal reporter of the News of the World newspaer) and Glenn Mulcaire (a private investigator, employed by Goodman) were imprisoned for illegally intercepting phone calls connected to the royal family. At the time, the News of the World claimed that Goodman was a rogue reporter, working alone but it emerged during the Leveson Enquiry that phone hacking was much more widespread throughout the industry. The enquiry also looked at other areas of press behaviour that were considered questionable.

Representatives of the newspaper industry including Rupert Murdoch, Paul Dacre (Editor of the Daily Mail) were called to give evidence. Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye magazine (and well known as a panellist on Have I Got News For You) appeared and made a strong case for keeping the press free of statutory regulation. One of Hislop’s key points is that much of the bad behaviour by the press that had  lead to the Leveson enquiry being set up (such as phone hacking) was already illegal anyway. He argued that a new regulator was not required but that journalists who break existing laws should be prosecuted.

8) What was the PCC replaced with in 2014?
It was replaced with the Leveson Enquiry. Throughout 2011 and 2012, an inquiry into the “culture, practice and ethics of the press” was held, mainly as a result of the so-called phone hacking scandal. In January 2007, Clive Goodman (the royal reporter of the News of the World newspaer) and Glenn Mulcaire (a private investigator, employed by Goodman) were imprisoned for illegally intercepting phone calls connected to the royal family. At the time, the News of the World claimed that Goodman was a rogue reporter, working alone but it emerged during the Leveson Enquiry that phone hacking was much more widespread throughout the industry. The enquiry also looked at other areas of press behaviour that were considered questionable.

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 there should be no regulation in the press and the people should be aloud to say what they want to say because the press should have the law for freedom of speech. Instead they have to say it in a way which isn't rude for the audience but they actually want to say it the way it actually is. I think that their should be a free press and that is a very important part of democracy and I think that people should have the right to say what they want to say.

10) Why is the internet so difficult to regulate?
As part of your study of the media, e-media is an intrinsic aspect which you need to consider and the issue of regulation is no exception. Although there is no specific body that governs the regulation of the internet, there are various methods of regulation or censorship that occur across a range of e-media platforms, sites.

Music video as a specific form of media has had occasional brushes with regulation. Duran Duran’s video for the single “Girls on Film” was banned by the BBC in 1981 for its sexual content while MTV has often edited explicit videos or only shown others after midnight to avoid offending viewers – The Prodigy’s video for “Smack My Bitch Up” being perhaps the most notorious example. However, music videos have never been directly subjected to regulation. Where they have been edited or banned from transmission, this has generally been to ensure that the TV station involved complied with the Broadcasting Code. However, the growth of the internet has changed the way videos are consumed by audiences. In the 80s and 90s, videos would have been seen only on television on shows like Top of the Pops, ITV’s The Chart Show, or on dedicated music video TV channels such as MTV. Now, videos are mostly watched online through platforms like YouTube and Vevo.