Newspapers - Regulation

Livingstone and Lunt

• They studied the work of OFCOM and regulation.
• There is an underlying struggle in UK regulation between the needs to further the interests of citizens (by offering protection from harmful or offensive material) and the need to further the interests of consumers (by ensuring choice, value for money, and market competition).
• The increasing power of global media conglomerates and the digital age have put traditional regulation at risk.

The regulating body for the different media forms

TV and Film - BBFC

• In 1984, the Video Recordings Act put the BBFC in charge of classifying all videos for home use
• This is governed by law and mandates that the BBFC ensure that all films are classified for appropriate audiences and show nothing harmful to the vulnerable, in particular young children.
• It is against the law to sell films without age ratings

Newspapers - IPSO

• There is an argument that 'red top newspapers' such as The Sun exploit the idea of free speech.
• The Sun has developed a famously opinionated, confrontational and brash style which they believe appeals to their target audience

The Daily Star has adopted a humorous tone and depicts a very chaotic and cluttered front cover. The use of  bold, large, sans-serif phrases such as 'bog off' and 'we're number one for number twos' connotes the lack of seriousness behind the paper. The excessive use of puns and alliteration furthers this unprofessional approach to the coronavirus news. The use of a bright, vivid colour scheme and the large amount of anchorage text, cover-lines and puffs successfully clutters the page and reinforces the chaotic demonstration of the serious underlying issue of the coronavirus. This chaotic representation can be linked to the chaos caused by the coronavirus. The lack of specificity towards the coronavirus suggests that the paper doesn't want to draw attention to the seriousness and fear of the virus but rather wants to provide a positive view. 

Influence of Contexts

• The idea of 'press freedom' reflects the political contexts of the role of newspapers in the development of an educated electorate in the historical period in which mass democracy developed.
• Its expression in the freedom of anyone to set up a newspaper reflects the economic context of free market capitalism
• These two combine to restrict regulation to legal (e.g. the libel laws) and self-regulatory approaches.

Financial Times Feb 2020 article by Simon Cheng

How does the Chinese Communist system of covering issues and restricting Press Freedom affect the public?

• '...more than 300 Chinese have been detained, reprimanded and accused of "spreading rumours", for talking about what happened in the virus-infected areas of China.'
• very strict rules on 'freedom of speech' that restrict the public and anger them
• The doctor, Li, who alerted the Chinese public to the coronavirus outbreak was rebuked and accused of lying by the Chinese authorities
• this aroused anger against them as his reasoning wasn't to overthrow the government (bare-knuckled political fight over human rights) but to warn them and inform them of core, health information that could save lives.
• 'abducted', 'tortured' , 'exile'
• persecution is being increased as regulation becomes more strict
• prevents improvements.

Influence of Contexts - Online

• Political debates about the role of disinformation (fake news) in online news and the influence of dark advertising (especially political advertising) may lead to some attempts to regulate social media companies, who are already (by 2018) responding to these criticisms in was that bring them closer to traditional publishers rather than transparent online platforms.
• Facebook, for example, has recruited staff to filter content and has introduced a system for throwing light on dark political advertising. However, the lack of centralised regulation of social media companies means tat different companies have different responses.

Leveson Inquiry

• Public inquiry into the ethics, culture and practises of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal
• Many celebrities were targeted during this scandal, but most shocking was the voicemail of murder victim Milly Dowler.

Outcome of the Enquiry

• It was decided that the PCC (Press Complaints Commission) was not adequate
• A new regulatory body, IPSO, was created. Participation is voluntary.
• Many victims of the hacking scandal such as JK Rowling were disappointed that the new regulations were voluntary and not fully implemented by David Cameron.

The role of regulation in news and the impact of digital technologies on regulation.

• The self regulation of the newspaper industry is illustrated by the competing regulatory bodies - IPSO (the Daily Mail's regulator) and Impress, and by the refusal of The Guardian to join either.
• Social media companies insist that their role is as a platform rather than a publisher and their international nature means they are not (in 2018) subject to regulation.

Does news regulation belong in a democracy? Provide judgements and reach conclusions.