Unit 1 Fact Sheet Charlie McCool

Regulatory Bodies

A regulatory body is an organisation that sets out and maintains standards in an

area. The regulatory bodies for a magazine are IPSO and the ASA.

IPSO

https://www.ipso.co.uk/
The Independent Press Standards Organisation is the
independent regulator for newspapers and magazines
industry in the UK. They make sure that the magazines and
newspapers follow the Editor’s Code and they also
investigate if someone has complained and why they did.

They also ensure that magazines and newspapers publish corrections and
adjustments if they breach the Editor’s Code. They make sure that their organisation
is trusted and that it’s a free space to be independent and thrive. Their mission is to
support people who feel wronged by the press and to provide higher standards and
professionalism for the press in the UK. The IPSO was established on the 8th
September 2014 and this organisation came after The Press Complaints
Commission that was established in 1990 which was the main industry regulator.
The way that you can contact the IPSO is through calling up or emailing them.

How They Do It

The IPSO hold newspapers and magazines accountable for their actions so they
check if they are following the Editor’s Code and if there are any complaints against
them they will take their criticism well and change their ways. They also work with
charities and other organisations to help them and support them and make them
improve the press standards. They provide advice for the editor’s so that there are
no offensive words or if it doesn’t follow the editor’s code. They are also an
independent regulator because on their website you can make complaints so it is a
safe space for people to have opinions and if they find anything offensive. The IPSO
is financed by the Regulatory Funding Company which is funded by the member
publications. IPSO does their own work separately and is completely independent.
The IPSO exists to promote and uphold the highest professional standards and to
help members of the public. The Editor’s Code Of Practice Committee is reviewing
the editors code and the code is written and reviewed and revised by the editors
code of practice committee with input from IPSO.
Editor’s Code Of Practice
Code Application

Accuracy

The code accuracy press must take care not to

publish inaccurate or misleading information or
disturbing images. This means like headlines not
being supported by the text.This means that a
company needs to follow the same information
and follow the code. If the final product is
misleading or disturbing it can break the editors
code of practice. So all the information and
articles have to be accurate because if they are not it could ruin the companies
reputation. If the statements are inaccurate or misleading it needs to be corrected
and make it appropriate for publication or if it is published with inaccurate information
they need to apologise. An opportunity to reply to significant inaccuracies should be
given when it is reasonably called for. A publication must report fairly and accurately
for the outcome of an action for defamation.

This code applies to the magazine company because when going through the
process of production they must make sure that the information they have is
accurate and not misleading or distorted because it could be damaging to the
company. They re-read everything before publishing so they can not break this code
because it can break the editors code of practice. So if the images or information is
misleading or inaccurate it breaks the code and it can damage the reputation of the
magazine production.

Empire should not publish inaccurate information for the audience to be mislead from
because it could be very confusing of what to believe and if it is true and they should
also not publish anything with disturbing images in their issue because it could cause
harm and stress to an individual.This issue is a film magazine and their articles are
about new films or about the actors of the films and it talks about actor lives so the
information they put out needs to be accurate and can not be made up because that
could damage the person's reputation. The images of the films need to be accurate
because if they show images of bad behaviour or someone supporting bad
behaviour someone could be offended by it. They should also not be showing
supportive behaviour in their headlines or in their articles. If the statements are
inaccurate or misleading it needs to be corrected and make it appropriate for the
audience.

Privacy

This code application means that everyone is

entitled to have a private life and not want any of
their personal information online. They also have the right to keep their family life
and physical and mental health private because if a company shares that information
it could damage them personally. If they do not keep this stuff private it can cause
harm to a person or a company. It is inappropriate to photograph someone without
their consent in a public or private place where there is an expectation of privacy.
This affects the magazine company because in their magazine they sometimes
interview or take pictures of people and they have to ask them for consent because if
the photographer does take a photo and there was no consent given they could be
sued. One way they avoid this is by asking them for permission before they take
photos or mention about their private life because if they don’t and they publish
something that is personal to them the magazine company could be sued.

The editor’s of Empire are expected to follow this code and justify any intrusion into
someone’s private life without permission. If Empire doesn't abide by this code or a
magazine they could be sued and because Empire is a film production magazine if
they were doing a photoshoot they have to keep the individuals private or if they do
want them to be featured they would have to ask for permission before including
their identity. .

Harassment
The code harassment means that when
journalists or any type of company they must
not engage in harassment or intimidate
anyone. This means that they should not go
to schools or repeatedly go to someone's
house because that is seen as harassment to
that individual and that would be breaking this
law. If they are told not to come to a place
they should listen because it would be
breaking the law and invading someone's
privacy.

This relates to the magazine production because magazine producers must make
sure that their journalists or photographers do not intimidate people and do not
continue to demand information once they have been declined, whether in person,
by email or on the phone. The magazine producers must ensure these rules are
followed and not broken. The magazine production will also ask people for
permission before they film or interview someone and will not go to a destination
such as someone’s house or school to demand interviews.

This code applies to the Empire because magazine journalists must not harass or
intimate anyone in order to obtain information and they must not persist in contacting
someone for information once they have been told to desist . An example would be
that Empire Magazine must make sure its writers and photographers do not harass
actors for interviews about a film or for photographs if they have been told no.
Empire Magazine will also make sure the writers do not intimate people into giving
them photographs or information.

Judgement

Unfortunately I couldn't find a judgement on Empire because there was none on the
IPSO editors code so I had to use an example of Take A Break.

Take a Break magazine was accused of breaking the accuracy ruling code because
when they mentioned about the harassment in the article it was not portrayed
accurately and some of the things they said were not true or the ones that were true
weren't seen as inaccurate. So the woman who was accused of harassing and
causing fear and she has said it isnt true and objected to many other claims in the
article including the claim that she was convicted of criminal activity. The outcome of
this complaint was that there was a breach and the sanction as offered by the
publication so they have to apologise to the woman and change the article or remove
it.

ASA
https://www.asa.org.uk/
The ASA is the UK’s independent advertising
regulator and the ASA makes sure that the adverts
across UK media stick to the advertising rules. In
1962, CAP established the ASA as the independent
advertising regulator under the newly created code.
The authority was set up to supervise the working of the new self regulatory system
in the public interest. Their responsibilities are to respond to concerns and
complaints from consumers and businesses and if their adverts are misleading or
cause harm they need to take action and ban the advert that was misleading. They
also check that their ads follow their rulings and if they don’t they remove the advert.
The non-broadcasting section of the code is applied to advertising in magazines.

How They Do It

The ASA checks if their ads are not misleading or offensive or checks if they are
following the rules so that they are not removed. They sort out the complaints they
get by checking the complaint and then they check the advert they complained about
and see if it was misleading or offensive or caused harm and if it follows these it
would be removed. They also check if that rule has been broken a number of times
and if it is they remove the whole advert.The CAP members represent the
advertising industry and covering advertisers.

They also offer authoritative advice and guidance about how to create campaigns
that apply to the rules. They also work with other organisations to help them check
what they do and what the ads cover and if they are applying the rules and not
breaking them. So if there is an issue that is complex and will need specialist support
they will ask for help from higher organisations.

The non-broadcast code applies to advertisements, sales promotions and direct-

marketing communications. This includes advertisements in printed materials for
example: newspapers, magazines, brochures and leaflets. They also suggest
Cap Code

Code Application

Misleading Advertising
The purpose of the code “Misleading advertising” is that adverts must not mislead
consumers. This would include exaggerating the potential of the product. This code
also covers the need to make everything clear and must not mislead by hiding
material information or excluding important or relevant information. For example,
some marketing communications must include the writer's identity or their contact
details so that they get recognition for the advert or must include terms and
conditions in a footnote.

This code applies to all adverts including adverts featured in a magazine. To avoid
breaking this code magazine producers check that the advertising companies follow
the code and do not mislead consumers. They will use reputable advertising
companies If there was a complaint made against the advert featured in the
magazine the regulatory body would sanction the advertising company. Examples
would include adverts that exaggerate what a product does or overestimate a
financial saving.

The Misleading Advertising code applies to the adverts in Empire Magazine. Empire
must make sure the adverts featured follow the code “Misleading advertising” and
wouldn’t feature adverts that make the product sound better than it is or include
comments that would confuse or mislead the audience. Empire mostly avoids this
code because the department responsible for choosing which adverts to include
check adverts before they publish them. They would be aware of this code.

Harm and Offence

The purpose of the code “Harm and Offence” is that it stops the advertising
companies from causing harm or serious or widespread offence. One example would
be adverts depicting graphic violence or drug use. Such adverts could not only
offend people but could encourage violent behaviour which would cause harm to
those involved and to society. If these things are mentioned in an advert and they
advertise it in a bad way it will break this code and someone could complain about it.
Marketing communications must not cause any fear or stress to a person without a
justifiable reason and if it is justified the fear or stress should not be excessive. The
marketing communications must contain nothing that is likely to condone or
encourage violence or offensive behaviour. This code would also cover adverts that
are offensive towards someone’s sexuality, ethnicity, religion or disability. For
example through using stereotypes or derogatory language.

Magazine producers must not break the harm and offence code. The magazine
producers avoid this by ensuring adverts do not include images, text or ideas that
are offensive or harmful, for example adverts that encourage dangerous behaviour
like excessive alcohol consumption or adverts that glorify violence. Magazine
producers must not use adverts that are offensive about sexuality, ethnicity, religion
or disability.

Harm and Offence applies to Empire magazine because in their issues they have
adverts. Any adverts featured must not use offensive words or use bad language
because it could be upsetting or offensive for the audience. This code stops the
advertising companies from causing harm or serious or widespread offence. The
adverts that are in Empire follow this code because in there advertisements they are
normally about upcoming films so when they mention them in the adverts they make
sure that they address everyone equally and doesn’t use any bad language in the
advert because it could be damaging for the audience to her or offensive so when
Empire goes through the process of the production they make sure their adverts are
not offensive or cause harm to a individual.

Privacy
The purpose of the privacy code is that it is put in place to protect individuals from
upenn warranted infringements of privacy. Advertising companies must not use
images or information featuring someone’s private life unless that person has given
the advertising company permission. Adverts must keep people's home address and
mobile numbers and personal information private because it could cause stress and
fear to an individual. If they mention an individual with a public profile they have to
make sure they write things accurately.

Magazine producers must make sure the adverts featured in their magazines do not
break the privacy code. In a magazine an advert should not feature someone’s
address or contact details in their adverts because it could cause fear and stress on
an individual. Magazine producers must not use adverts that include text, images or
content that include private information of any person. Furthermore, adverts won't
include photographs taken without permission being given.

This code applies to Empire magazine as it features adverts. So the adverts that are
in Empire must not feature pictures of an individual or a place without permission.
Adverts featured in Empire magazine must not include private information like
contact details and somebody’s personal information. Many adverts in Empire
magazine are for competitions and giveaways for tickets as part of advertising
campaigns for new films. Such adverts will not include the contact details from
previous winners.

Judgement
This magazine advert RSD Travel Ltd broke the code of misleading advertising,
substantiation and pricing because in the advert it was promoting something that
was inaccurate. It said “ Your Saving £1000” and the audience found out it was
untrue and was misleading. In the advertisement it said that the prices for the travel
was reduced but they were promoting and leaving the audience hopeless. The price
comparison was made on a like for like basis so they were just saying that to gain
more money and publicity. This complaint was upheld and taken further with the
magazine company and they had to make sure that this advert was never to be
advertised again in the form of why it was complained about. They told the RSD
Travel Ltd to make sure in the future they make sure that the price comparisons
were clearly shown how it was and not for the audience to feel misled.