why do we use regulatory bodies?
Regulatory bodies control the mass media and are there to protect the public. They also ensure universal availability to the population, meaning all films are suitable to be shown in cinemas to the age range they have been regulated at. Regulatory bodies conform to certain rules and promote high quality of content provided as far as possible according to locally decided values and standards, with particular reference to information.
What is the BBFC?
The BBFC stands for British board of film classification. It Is an independent, non-government organisation and responsible for the classification and censorship of films and videos in the UK. The BBFC has the power to cut or reject work and was set up in 1912. The BBFC is funded by the film industry. It is responsible for making sure any films or videos are suitable to be shown to the ages that the company has said they want it to be shown too. These certifications include; U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18, R18.
Why are films given a certification?
The BBFC give films a classification, in order to protect children from unsuitable and even harmful content in films and videos. They give consumers information they might need about a particular film or video before deciding whether or not to view it. The BBFC examines and age rates films and videos before they are released. This independent scrutiny prior to release ensures the highest possible level of protection and empowerment.
How are film given a certification?
The BBFC watch the films and videos all the way through and award an age rating and BBFC insight to each one. They reach age ratings by applying the standards and criteria contained in their classification guidelines. Two examiners view a film for theatrical release. In most cases a senior examiner will confirm the examiners' recommendation. However if the examiners are in any doubt, or fail to agree, or if important policy issues are involved, the work may be seen by other members of the board up to and including the chief executive and presidential team. Here is the link to the BBFC website and its 'about us' section. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-bbfc
Classification considerations
The BBFC always consider the following contents when classifying films or videos in the UK:
- Context of the video
- The theme of the film
- The tone or impact the film or video has on the audience
- Drugs that are being used in either the film or video
- Discrimination towards anything or anyone that may cause harm or offence to viewers
- Imitable behaviour used in the film that could cause harm or offence to viewers
- Language used in the film or video that is not suitable for certain ages
- Any sex scenes that have been included in the film or video that would not be suitable for certain ages
- Any nudity used in the films or videos that are not appropriate
- Threats that are used in the film or videos that can cause harm or offence to viewers
- Violence that is used in the films or videos that could cause harm or offence or even influence any audience members
Why is important to have the BBFC?
It is important to have the BBFC because of all the above reasons. It is to stop films automatically being released, which may contain obscene aspects or torture. Also to have all films regulated on a fair scale so that there's no disagreements. To protect children/ young adults under the age of 18 from witnessing upsetting scenes.
BBFC classification guidelines:
Here is the link to the BBFC guidelines:
Pages 15-23 tell you about the classification categories
Pages 27-28 tell you about the intervention of the BBFC
Issues with certification
The film 'Grotesque' was rejected by the BBFC in 2009. The guidelines on rejected works state that 'If a central concept of the work is unacceptable (for example, a sex work with a rape theme); or if intervention in any of the ways noted above is not acceptable to the submitting company;or if the changes required would be extensive or complex; the work may be rejected, ie refused a classification at any category'. Cuts were not considered viable given that there was so much unacceptable material in the film and therefore was rejected.
Juno was originally submitted asking for a PG rating, however the BBFC classified it as a 12A rating in 2008. Juno has an exuberant and ironic tone and is both playful and tender in its treatment of a mature theme. Some criticism of the film had suggested it might advertise teen pregnancy, but the BBFC took the view that the film's treatment of an important theme was 'suitable for young teenagers' as it presented Juno's pregnancy and its effects on her relationships realistically, rather than through rose-tinted glasses.
Winters Bone in America is classed as a R rating, here in the UK the BBFC classed it as a 15. The BBFC decided due to the language and drug use that it would be certified as a 15.
Another film that has been debated is Clover-field. This film is a horror movie that was created in 2008. The film was rated PG-13 in America and the distributor was keen to see the film passed at a 12A. The verdict at this stage was that extended strong threat meant that it would be rated at a 15 and the unremittingly dark tone and ceaseless threat to humans, coupled with a pessimistic conclusion, drove the classification up to this. The film shares its downbeat conclusion and strong, cumulative sense of menace and horror with 'I am legend' , also classified at 15 ( and also rated at a PG-13 in the USA).
What is OFCOM?
Ofcom is the UK communications regulator. They regulate TV, Radio and video on demand sectors. Also, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. Ofcom protect the UK from scams and sharp practices and that they get the best from their communications services. However making sure that competitions still thrive. Ofcom operates under a number of acts of parliament, including the communications act 2003. (Ofcom.org.uk, 2016)
According to Ofcom their main legal duties are:
- the main electronic communications services
- A wide range of high quality TV and Radio services with appealing tastes and interests.
- People who watch TV or listen to radio are protected from harmful or offensive material.
- People are prevented from being treat unfairly on TV or radio and from their privacy being invaded.
- viewers of video on demand services are protected from harmful content.
- A universal postal service is provided in the UK- This means 6 days a week, universally priced delivery and collection service across the country.
- The radio spectrum is used in the correct way which means, the airwaves used by everyone from taxi firms and boat owners, to mobile-phone companies and broadcasters.
According to Ofcom this is hat they do not do:
They are not responsible for regulating
- disputes between you and your telecoms provider
- premium-rate services, including mobile phone text services and ringtones
- the content of television and radio adverts
- complaints about accuracy in BBC programmes
- The BBC TV licence fee
- Post offices
- Newspapers and magazines
Loose women, ITV, Tuesday, 10th May 2016. This certain series had 18 complaints either from public watching it or people on the show.
Lorraine, ITV, Thursday, 12th May 2016. This certain series has 16 complaints either from public watching it or people on the show.
Sunrise, Sky news, Wednesday, 11th May 2016. This series had 12 complaints either from the public watching it or people on the show.
The Eurovision song contest, BBC1, Saturday 14th May 2016. This series has had 13 complaints ether from the people watching it or people on the show.
Unfortunately Ofcom cannot give much more information than this as it could be private information that they would not b allowed to give out to the public.
What is IPSO?
IPSO stands for The 'Independent Press Standards Organisation'. The IPSO is the independent regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry. (Ipso.co.uk, 2016) The IPSO have the highest professional standards of journalism in the UK. They support members of the public in seeking redress where they believe that the Editors' code of practice has been breached. The IPSO consider concerns about editorial content in newspapers and magazines,and about the conduct of journalists. (Ipso.co.uk, 2016)
The IPSO handle complaints from members of the public and conduct their own investigations into editorial standards and compliance. You can find out anything you would like to know at https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/aboutipso.html
The IPSO serves the public by holding publications to account of their actions. They try their hardest to protect individual rights and uphold high standards of professional conducts and they will help maintain freedom of expression for the press.
What is the ASA?
The ASA stands for Advertising Standards Authority. It is the UK's independent regulator of advertising across all media aspects. The ASA apply the advertising codes, which are written by the committees of advertising practice. The ASA's work includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements. (Asa.org.uk, 2016)
The purpose of the ASA is to make advertisements responsible and their ambition is to make every UK ad a responsible ad. The ASA's job is important and they are passionate about what they do. This is because good advertisements are responsible for anything they include to the people, society and advertisers. This is how they make every ad a responsible ad:
Here are the five strands of their strategy and what they mean according to the ASA:
1. Understanding- We'll be an authority on advertising and active on issues that cause societal concern. We'll be open to calls for regulatory change, acting purposefully and in a timely fashion, while being fair and balanced in our assessment of the evidence and arguments.
2. Support- We'll provide support to advertisers to help them create responsible ads. We'll increase, improve and better target our advice and training so every business has access to the information and support it needs.
3. Impact- We'll spend more time on matters that make the biggest difference. Focussing on our existing remit, we'll spend less time tackling ads that cause little detriment to consumers or on the vulnerable. But, where a complaint indicates that the rules have been broken, we will always do something.
4. Proactive- We'll be proactive and work with others. We'll use a wide range of information to identify and tackle problems to make sure ads are responsible, even if we haven't officially received a complaint.
5. Awareness- We'll increase awareness of the ASA and CAP. We will make sure that the public, civil society and the industry know who we are and what we can do, so they can engage with us when they need to, and have confidence in our work.
The ASA say that their shared values are to be:
- consistent and proportionate
- reliable and ethical
- fair and respectful to all
- Accessible and helpful
- intelligent and thorough, but also timely and proportionate
- Open and accountable, acting with integrity and never being afraid to admit when we're wrong
- An excellent team, inspiring excellence in each other
Their external stakeholders will also find us:
- Independent in administrating the advertising codes
- Evidence-based, targeted and consistent
- Reflective of society, not a social engineer.
The UK advertising regulatory system is a mixture of
- self-regulation for non-broadcast advertising
- Co-regulation for broadcast advertising
This means that the systems are paid for by the industry. They also write the rules, however these are enforced independently by the ASA. The ASA also run on a contract from Ofcom for radio and TV advertising.
Issues associated with regulation in media
We would associate the word 'issues' with dispute of conflict. The main issues of primarily public concern (either relating to harm or benefits) According to (McQuail, 2016)
We would associate the word 'issues' with dispute of conflict. The main issues of primarily public concern (either relating to harm or benefits) According to (McQuail, 2016)
- The protection of public order and the security of the state.
- Maintaining respect for the public mores in matters of taste and decency.
- Achieving benefits for the public sphere in terms of information flow, access, diversity and public participation.
- Maintaining cultural standards and supporting the national or regional culture and language.
- Respecting human rights of expression and protection from insult and prejudice.
- Preventing harm to society, especially by way of harm to children and young people from undesirable content.
- Meeting international obligations.
- Protecting and advancing the national economic interest in media and communication industries.
Issues of a more private or individual character:
- Protecting individual rights to reputation, etc.
- Preventing offence to individuals.
- Avoiding harm to individuals from violent or perverted content.
- Protecting property rights in communication and information.
Issues with consumers choice in media:
Consumers choice is giving the customers of your product the right choice in regards of how they purchase and utilise the product. Some people would say that the issues with consumer choice are that people like the BBFC etc determine what the public are allowed to watch. They may disagree with this and think that they should be allowed to watch whatever they want too and should not be told by other people what they can and cannot watch. Consumers choice means the public's choice, however they are not getting to choose themselves, they are being forced and told what to do. I believe that these people are right because some films may be inappropriate for certain age groups and parents would not be happy if children were watching films that weren't appropriate for their ages.
Freedom of information
The freedom of information was a publications act in 2000. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. A number of things are included in this such as, right to seek, impart and receive information. It is important to have freedom of information to:
Basically the publications act for freedom of information provides public access to information held by the publications authorities. The act doesn't give people access to their own personal data, such as their health records and credit reference file. If a member of the public wants to see information that a public authority holds about them, they should make a subject request under the data protection act of 1998. (Ico.org.uk, 2016) However, now the government has confirmed that they are considering amending the Freedom Of Information Act to make it easier for officials to withhold information from the public. A consequence of this is the supreme Court judgement in March that led to this afternoons release of the Prince Charles 'Black Spider Memo's'. According to the BBC News.("Is There Trouble Ahead For Freedom Of Information? - BBC News")
Censorship
Censorship in media is a global phenomenon. Many a times, certain things in the world have been banned for one reason or another and sometimes for no apparent reason. According to Wikipedia censorship is the suppression of of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. ("Censorship") (GD/PI)
Issues with censorship in media is things get banned that don't need to be therefore cause debates etc in media. Some examples of banned products are things such as when India withdrew copies of indologist 'Wendy Doniger's book 'The Hindus: An Alternative History. This was banned because from the beginning when it was published in 2009, there was a lot of criticism and opposition, especially from the American Hindu community. Despite all this, Wendy spoke out herself explaining that her book comes from her perspective and this does not diminish the fact that Indians are allowed to have their own self-identity. ("Wendy Doniger's Book 'The Hindus' Withdrawn By Penguin India Due To Controversy | Latest News & Updates At Daily News & Analysis") According to these, Hindu American Foundation Co-Founder Aseem Shukla debated various elements from the book with Doniger herself on a Washington Post-sponsored blog. There was a large discussion between the two and Doniger was accused of sexualising and defaming some of the holiest passages in the Hindu scriptures. However, Doniger retaliated by pointing out that her book has sold well in India, a country that is populated by Hindus and also asked her critics to point out exactly where her interpretations of the text were wrong. Information about the book being banned was exaggerated all over the media, on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. ("Wendy Doniger's Book 'The Hindus' Withdrawn By Penguin India Due To Controversy | Latest News & Updates At Daily News & Analysis") (GD/PI)
Our community is very highly influenced by the media. However most if not all of society overlook the fact that media information can be biased and skewed perceptions of events and reports in the News today. A downfall with the media is that they find it extremely hard to sell information about an event as it actually is. They are always exaggerating stories and making things seem worse than they are. This means that us as a community are not finding out information that is entirely true, but we still believe it. The media is very good at manipulating viewers in ways that are unseen. Therefore it makes it hard for thew community to trust and believe everything the media is telling us. The media is driven that much by money, greed and popularity, most outlets of the media are fighting against each other. They are fighting to provide reports and give out information that they believe the audience want to hear rather than what we should here, in other words the truth. (GD/PI)
Consumers choice is giving the customers of your product the right choice in regards of how they purchase and utilise the product. Some people would say that the issues with consumer choice are that people like the BBFC etc determine what the public are allowed to watch. They may disagree with this and think that they should be allowed to watch whatever they want too and should not be told by other people what they can and cannot watch. Consumers choice means the public's choice, however they are not getting to choose themselves, they are being forced and told what to do. I believe that these people are right because some films may be inappropriate for certain age groups and parents would not be happy if children were watching films that weren't appropriate for their ages.
Freedom of information
The freedom of information was a publications act in 2000. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. A number of things are included in this such as, right to seek, impart and receive information. It is important to have freedom of information to:
- Achieve many other rights
- Securing democracy
- Enabling development
Basically the publications act for freedom of information provides public access to information held by the publications authorities. The act doesn't give people access to their own personal data, such as their health records and credit reference file. If a member of the public wants to see information that a public authority holds about them, they should make a subject request under the data protection act of 1998. (Ico.org.uk, 2016) However, now the government has confirmed that they are considering amending the Freedom Of Information Act to make it easier for officials to withhold information from the public. A consequence of this is the supreme Court judgement in March that led to this afternoons release of the Prince Charles 'Black Spider Memo's'. According to the BBC News.("Is There Trouble Ahead For Freedom Of Information? - BBC News")
Censorship
Censorship in media is a global phenomenon. Many a times, certain things in the world have been banned for one reason or another and sometimes for no apparent reason. According to Wikipedia censorship is the suppression of of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. ("Censorship") (GD/PI)
Issues with censorship in media is things get banned that don't need to be therefore cause debates etc in media. Some examples of banned products are things such as when India withdrew copies of indologist 'Wendy Doniger's book 'The Hindus: An Alternative History. This was banned because from the beginning when it was published in 2009, there was a lot of criticism and opposition, especially from the American Hindu community. Despite all this, Wendy spoke out herself explaining that her book comes from her perspective and this does not diminish the fact that Indians are allowed to have their own self-identity. ("Wendy Doniger's Book 'The Hindus' Withdrawn By Penguin India Due To Controversy | Latest News & Updates At Daily News & Analysis") According to these, Hindu American Foundation Co-Founder Aseem Shukla debated various elements from the book with Doniger herself on a Washington Post-sponsored blog. There was a large discussion between the two and Doniger was accused of sexualising and defaming some of the holiest passages in the Hindu scriptures. However, Doniger retaliated by pointing out that her book has sold well in India, a country that is populated by Hindus and also asked her critics to point out exactly where her interpretations of the text were wrong. Information about the book being banned was exaggerated all over the media, on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. ("Wendy Doniger's Book 'The Hindus' Withdrawn By Penguin India Due To Controversy | Latest News & Updates At Daily News & Analysis") (GD/PI)
Our community is very highly influenced by the media. However most if not all of society overlook the fact that media information can be biased and skewed perceptions of events and reports in the News today. A downfall with the media is that they find it extremely hard to sell information about an event as it actually is. They are always exaggerating stories and making things seem worse than they are. This means that us as a community are not finding out information that is entirely true, but we still believe it. The media is very good at manipulating viewers in ways that are unseen. Therefore it makes it hard for thew community to trust and believe everything the media is telling us. The media is driven that much by money, greed and popularity, most outlets of the media are fighting against each other. They are fighting to provide reports and give out information that they believe the audience want to hear rather than what we should here, in other words the truth. (GD/PI)
Bibliography
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Asa.org.uk. (2016). About ASA - Advertising Standards Authority. [online] Available at: https://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA.aspx [Accessed 17 May 2016].
Ipso.co.uk. (2016). About us. [online] Available at: https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/aboutipso.html [Accessed 17 May 2016].
Anderson, T., Anderson, T. and profile, V. (2013). understanding the creative media industry: Regulatory bodies - issues. [online] Toma9696.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://toma9696.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/regulatory-bodies-issues.html [Accessed 18 May 2016].
McQuail, D. (2016). 3. The Main Issues of Regulation. [online] Le.ac.uk. Available at: http://www.le.ac.uk/oerresources/media/ms7501/mod2unit11/page_16.htm [Accessed 18 May 2016].
Asa.org.uk. (2016). Our purpose and strategy - Advertising Standards Authority. [online] Available at: https://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/Strategy.aspx [Accessed 17 May 2016].
Ofcom.org.uk. (2016). What is Ofcom?. [online] Available at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/what-is-ofcom/ [Accessed 17 May 2016].
