regulation: sonia livingstone and peter lunt

OFCOM responsible for:

• commercial radio and TV

• video on demand (NOW TV, amazon prime but not netflix or youtube)

• jointly responsible for regulating BBC alongside the BBC’s board og goveners

OFCOM primary responsibilities

• tries to ensure that the media landscapenis not dominated by a single organisation

• oversees complaints from members of public

• protect those under 18 year olds from exposure to harmful content

Advertising standard authority (ASA), responsible for:

• print advertising (newspapers, magazines)

• ambient advertsing (billboards, bus boardings)

• radio advertsing

• television advertising

• internet advertising (including youtube)

• social media content in which online advertisers promote products

Advertising standards authority (ASA): primary responsibilities

• oversees complaints made by members of the public regarding adverts

• applies a standard code- mostly concerned with protecting vulnerable groups and to ensure accuracy in advert claims

• pre-clears screen-based advertising

• encourages self-regulation

independant press standard Organisation (IPSO): responsible for

• regulates a voluntary membership of over 1,500 print and 1,000 online news titles

• some newspapers have refused to sign up to voluntary code, including the guardian, the observa and the financial times

IPSO: primary responsibilities

• semi-official press regulator for the UK- oversees reader complaints that infringe its editorial code of conduct

• has the power to levy fines of up to £1 million, but in practice, has never issued any financial penalties

• complaints are overseen by an adjudicating panrll made up of industry based experts

British board of film classification (BBFC): responsible for

• UK film and video distribution

• adult internet content

British board of film classification (BBFC): primary responsibilties

• operates a co-regulatory code that classifies films according to age appropiate criteria

• key focus of the BBFC is to protect children from harmful content and to help parents make informed viewing choices for the children

pan European Game Information (PEGI): responsible for

• console and PC games including console-related online gaming content'

• games developers self-certify their own content using the PEGI classification system

Pan European Game Information (PEGI): primary responsiblities

• operates a contentcode that enables age related classification of games

• like the BBFC, PEGI’s primary aim is to provide reliable information to guide parents when purchasing console game

television and radio

• self regulation and the BBC: BBC products exemplify a civic-minded approach to production, readily applyinh a citizen-based ethos to their products

• increased competition for terrestial broadcasters from global media

newspapers and magazines

• weak press regulation: failure of communications act 2003 to include print news is seen to be problematic. creation of IPSO in wake of levision enquiry has prompted criticism regarding regulators failure to encpurage citizen based news

• broadsheet-self regulation: have tried to maintain reputations by constructing own citizen-based news values accross the print sector

online

• limited regulation of online content: failure of communications act 2003 to address internet based content has resulted in a regulatory approach to online media that is relatively weak.

• online extremism: failure of social media to control fake news and extremist content is a result of a regultory model that does not take account of audience as citizens

• protecting vulnerable users: unable to protect younger users

• regulating online influencers

• difficulties of policing global online media

film and gaming

• creation of advisory bodies designed to protect vulnerable audiences: limited affect

citizen-based regulation

outline a civic role for the media and encourage media makers to produce content that contributes to the social and cultural health of the societies in which they operate

consumer-based regulation

a regulatory system in which choices regarding content are largely devolved to audiences and where edia makers are given as much freedom as possible to make the media that audiences want to consume

digital literacy

advocates that audiences should be adequatelt informed about online content in a way that allowed them to effectively evaluate thr material they are presente with online

self-regulation

devolved regulatory decisions to industry practitioners

concept 1: citizen and consumer based models of media regulation

• citizen oriented regulation is concerned with content-based issues

• citizens-based regulation is a positive form of regulation that directsmedia content so that it can improve the lives of citizens and contribute to the well-being of a wider society

• citizen-based regulation promotes forms of mefia that are able to hold powerful groups to account

• consumer-based regulation seeks to ensure that the media landscape contains a variety of different producers so that audiences have choice.

• consumer-based regulation seeks to ensure that the technological infrastructure that provides media to the public is fit for the purpose

• consumer-based regulation creates an environment in which audiences themselves to make judgements about the kinds of media that are appropiate for their consumption

• a consumer-oriened approach has dominated the media landscape as a result of the communications act 2003 and the creation of ofcom

concept 2: the challenge of regulation in the age of globalised media

• globalisation has reduced the power of national governments to control the media- global companies operatebeyond the scope and boundaries of any one country