Understanding the regulation of the creative media sector

Regulation In Media

Media needs to be regulated so that the huge industry is successfully and effectively managed, as this industry needs to be controlled. Regulation in media holds many policies these enable content to be viewed by the right people so that certain content cannot harm anyone.

A way that media can be regulated is through classification this is preventing underage people from being able to access content that is unsuitable for their age by rating content and keeping certain content under rules such as late screenings or age restrictions, as this could possibly cause harm psychologically and maybe harm there development as a person if the content is rated possibly harmful to them, this method keeps people safe from these occurrences these occurrences. There is censorship which is removing content from any public source so that it cannot be seen by anyone, this can keep people safe from watching disturbing content that is most likely not wanted to be viewed.

"Press Complaints Commissions"

Regulation is mainly set by press regulators such as the "PCC" this was a non-government, voluntary press regulator, this company holds many publishers and is actually funded by annual tax. The role of this company is to take any serious scandals or complaints from the public or government issues and try to resolve the problem as effectively as possible. The "PCC" has had strong criticism as it is said to lack action in the News Of The World phone hacking affair in 2007, the "PCC" only made an inquiry on the scandal and did not attempt to take any serious action on the scandal, they failed to investigate and question on any of the potential suspects in the scandal and the "PCC" eventually left the scandal to a unsolved case. Eventually the "PCC" got replaced with the "IPSO" as its past press was said to be a fail to what it was set out to be.

"British Board Film Classification"

This press company is another non-government organisation which is funded by the film industry itself and hold the main responsibility of classifying age ratings/restrictions on films in the UK. This company used to be a censorship press however they changed to becoming a classification and also remained a censorship press overtime. This company has also had some criticism for its over-use of being too harsh on its movie classification restrictions and censoring, this company also demands a lot of cuts to be done in movies that show any sign of certain content which has been viewed as being very strict an not necessarily beneficial. This press company understands that current times are different from older times as they have re-certified certain ratings on older films as they are now not seen as serious anymore for example a horror film names "Revenge of the zombies" originally got a "X" rating and has now been re-certified as a "U" as this film has aged it has become less potentially harmful for audiences. A huge problem that the "BBFC" has not resolved are website restrictions as technically anyone at any age could view content that they are too under-age to watch as websites like "YouTube" just use date of birth to monitor their content for age restrictions, anyone could easily lie about their age and bypass this restriction method this has been making the "BBFC" look like it is not useful for what it is set out to do and this defeats its purpose entirely, this press company needs to realise that it will need to also censor content on websites as technology is adapting and growing in numbers quickly soon the company will almost be pointless.

There are many reasons that some people believe a press classification are needed some people believe including the "BBFC" themselves that: people who are vulnerable should be protected from any potentially harmful content, children in particular need protecting from more adult content as it is seen that it could more likely harm people whose minds and brains are still developing and growing and they are more susceptible to being influenced by adult content, celebrities privacy should be protected at all costs and should not feel that they are being intruded.

"Office Of Communications" ("OFCOM")

"OFCOM" are a regulatory that investigate any complaints given by the public, in the UK companies have to have approved licenses by "OFCOM" to be able to broadcast there content. "OFCOM" also deals with advertisements they must go by certain rules this being relating to similar genre, have to have a level of decency, content of the advertisement cannot be misleading, no adverts are allowed to cause any harm or offense either, there are around 30 categories of rules that advertisements must abide by also "OFCOM" has its own advertisement code that can be viewed on their website. Another similar company that deals with advertisements are the "ASA" which are recognised by the government and also "OFCOM" they ensure that all advertisements that are displayed are legal by enforcing advertisement codes similar to "OFCOM" they make sure advertisements are truthful and honest when displayed. ASA received a total of 25,214 complaints in 2011 and 13,074 of them being about advertisements, they successfully investigated every one of those complaints that were given.

Issues with Classification and Censoring

A criticism of content being censored and restricted is that everyone should have freedom of what they want to watch ("freedom of speech") this suggests that everyone has a right to say and view whatever content they want it should not be decided by someone else. Some people say that violence is a way of life and it plays in everyone’s at points, it shows emotion and displays it in an effective way and films should be able to express this without having to suffer from using it. Some people complain that celebrities have put themselves in the spotlight so they should be expected to invade on and should not make a huge fuss about it and neither should the "BBFC".