Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The arguments for and against media regulation large fall into two parts,
What are the arguments for and against specific forms of contemporary media regulation
1. Self regulating vs. state regulation 2. Press Freedom vs. state control 3. Public interest vs. Privacy 4. How effective are regulatory practices?
Remember
In the UK there are different regulatory bodies some which are regulated by the state i.e. OFCOM which is regulated by a government body and then you have PCC and BBFC which are self regulating. Both the BBFC and OFCOM have a statutory duty to regulate, but one is regulated by the government the other industry professionals. Question 1.: What is the difference between self regulation and regulation? Questions 2: What are the arguments for and against regulation Question 3: How can we have some media which are self regulated and others which are regulated by the state? Question 4: In an era of the world wide web with global access, and Web 2.0 is regulation possible at all?
The PCC is a voluntary self-regulatory system, has resisted state control but their is an uneasy balance, with some pushing for a statutory alternative that has powers enshrined in law.
Continued
The 1990 Calcutt report recommended the setting up of a new Press Complaints Commission to replace the Press Council. The new Commission would be given 18 months to prove nonstatutory self-regulation could work effectively and if it failed to do so, then a statutory system would be introduced. The press rose to the challenge. The PCC was set up at the beginning of 1991 and at the same time a team of national and regional editors produced the Code of Practice for the new Commission to administer. However, in his first report of 1993, the late Sir David Calcutt complained of the ineffectiveness of the PCC and called for statutory regulation. The Government delayed responding until 1995, when National Heritage Secretary Virginia Bottomley rejected regulation, proposing instead a series of reforms to the PCC. Following the death of Princess Diana in 1998, the PCC came under pressure to reform again, and the Code was revised again to better protect privacy and to take account of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. To date the Code has been revised 30 times since it was first published. The latest amendment was made to the Accuracy clause in January 2011.
PCC Code
LINK or available at http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html i
PCC is an ethical rather than legal code, and has no legal power in contrast to Ofcom and the BBFC.
Questions for you Question 1.: What is the difference between self regulation and regulation? Questions 2: Do you think we should have a system of state regulation or self regulation? Question 3: What do you think about privacy vs public interest? Question 4: Do you think the current system of media specific regulation will last.
Self-Regulation involves media organisations forming an independent body, setting up their own code of conduct and operational structure as well as raising their own funds. In Britain, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is an independent self-regulatory body which adjudicates complaints from the public and acts as an informal conciliator, leaning on newspapers to admit mistakes or oversights It is funded by a levy on newspaper and magazine publishers who subscribe to its authority. Does this create bias, how can you regulate yourself, the PCCs history has shown that it does not work with the failure of previous self regulatory bodies? Use your case studies that you have watched and researched to support the problems of current PCC and self regulation
Solevay and Reed (6) however the type of self regulation now accepted has been advocated seriously since about the year 2000. Prior to that self regulation had a much different meaning. It meant essentially no regulation I.e. This can be linked to the fact that companies are now asking people to say how old they are before downloading something, or with AOL and other companies disconnecting people, there is now a move towards self regulation rather than no regulation on the internet.
Criticism Stokes and Reading (1999:156). Newspapers argue for freedom of expression, but in doing so they suggest that newspapers alone, other than other public bodies should stand above international law. Quiet clearly for some newspapers the ability to snoop and poke into peoples private lives is infinitely more important than carrying out serious journalism.
A similar view was echoed by the ECHR decision in Peck v United Kingdom (2003) ECHR when it was found that The PCC rejected the applicants *Peck+ complaint without a hearing Mr Peck was caught on CCTV when he attempted to commit suicide in a public place. This footage was publicised without his permission and the ECHR upheld his claim for invasion of privacy notwithstanding the PCCs earlier rejection of the same complaint
Internet
The growth of the internet has brought its own problems particularly in relation to social networking sites and the protection of privacy. An Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by the PCC in March 2008 revealed that 42% of web users aged 16-24 knew someone who had been embarrassed by information uploaded on to the internet without their consent. And 78% of the entire adult online population would change information they publish about themselves online if they thought the material would later be reproduced in the mainstream media. In addition, 89% of web users thought there should be clear guidelines about the type of personal information that can be published online so that they can complain if the material is wrong or intrusive.
The problem is not self-regulation vs. regulation or even the internet, its the fact that regulation is medium specific
Points
In the past regulation in this country has been media specific, however, we can see with case studies like Jan Moir that what was perfectly acceptable for the PCC, would have been a major problem for OFCOMs guidelines. This means that regulation is a joke because there is no consistency. You have the BBFC and Ofcom which both have statutory duties but, BBFC is regulated by industry professionals and Ofcom by a government body. BBFC is more like the PCC in relation to the way it regulates itself however PCC has no legal powers. Further, with the impact of the internet, 24 news coverage, how can you regulate or censor news, if the press are not aloud to report it because of an injunction, then people will search the internet. The problem with the concept that we can regulate the media, is largely in doubt now because of the impact of internet, and web 2.0 unless we regulate the internet, doing this is both difficult because different countries have different law, also because of web 2.0 and also because regulating the internet would be seen as a
Remember
What the internet does is highlight this problem of media specific regulation firstly because it is difficult to regulate. Secondly it shows the problems with the current system because the internet is a medium which contains technological convergence and proliferation, i.e. it contains radio, print, TV, adverts and films. All of the above are regulated be a media specific regulatory system i.e. self regulated and regulated, so the internet highlights the problem with the current system.
Theorists McQuail
Internet as a new media, changes the role of the audience. The balance of audience activity shifts from reception to searching, consulting and interacting (Mc Quail, 2000: 120). Internet features three main ideas as it is interactivity, demassified nature and breaking the barrier of space and time. Audience are able to access the Internet from almost everywhere, seeking information from sources within and outside geographic barriers. The audience are not restricted to local content anymore, as the degree of freedom that is available. Despite the differences, the new media are being used and exploited in much as the same way the old media for selling, advertising, propaganda and persuasion ? (Mc Quail, 2000: 124).
Homework
Checks this website about http://theory.org.uk/ http://www.alevelmedia.co.uk/page_1269723 589777.html