Media regulation: blog tasks

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

Systems of regulation are required to provide rules and regulations to ensure that organisations operate fairly.

2) What is OFCOM responsible for?

They regulate broadcast media - TV and radio.

3) Look at the section on the OFCOM broadcasting code. Which do you think are the three most important sections of the broadcasting code and why?

Section 1: Protecting the Under-Eighteens

Section 3: Crime

Section 8: Privacy

These are the most important to me because U18's are vulnerable online, criminal activity should be shut down, and people's rights to privacy monitored.

4) Do you agree with OFCOM that Channel 4 was wrong to broadcast 'Wolverine' at 6.55pm on a Sunday evening? Why?

 The parents have the option to take their kid out of the room? Once they realised it was Wolverine they could have prevented their child from watching. But, the situation was slightly misleading so I understand why parents were shocked. 

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?

It’s critics claim that the lack of statutory powers means that when a newspaper has been found to break the rules, the best a victim can hope for is an apology, which often does not get sufficient prominence in the paper.

7) What was the Leveson inquiry and why was it set up?

It was an inquiry into the “culture, practice and ethics of the press”. This was held, mainly as a result of the so-called phone hacking scandal. The enquiry also looked at other areas of press behaviour that were

considered questionable.

8) What was the PCC replaced with in 2014?

On 8th September 2014, the PCC was replaced by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).

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?

I think the press should be able to publish things within their own beliefs as long as they don't violate other peolpe's rights and abuse their freedom of press/speech.

10) Why is the internet so difficult to regulate?

This is because the internet is so vast, and there's no way to control the activity on there successfully However, regulators work by problem rather than working by sector, meaning they're not able to address everything.