Media Effects

Regulation and Censorship

"Media context regulation in the UK revolves primarily around codes of practice, drawn up by a variety of bodies which are either entirely or largely independent, following wide public consultation. In some cases, these codes of practice have been developed by bodies with statutory powers over the media while in others the responsible bodies have been established by the media themselves."



One of the major TV regulating conglomerate companies is Ofcom (office of communication), which is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom has the responsibilities of 5 regulatory bodies that are:

- The Broadcasting Standards Commission
- The Independent Television Commission
- The Office of Telecommunications (Oftel)
- The Radio Authority
- The Radiocommunications Agency

Ofcom's responsibilities are wide-ranging, covering all manner of industries and processes. It has a statutory duty to further what it considers the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting consumers from what it considers harmful or offensive material. Ofcom regulates TV by placing such things as watershed, which allows certain hours of the day where adults are designed to watch certain programmes.

The Internet should be regulated too....
Today the internet can be accessed by a young child from the privacy of her bedroom at any time of the day or night. In these circumstances, people must have some procedures for tackling illegal content on the internet and some mechanisms for allowing end user control of what is accessed on theiInternet. These other networks are regulated and so should the Internet. Of course broadcasting and telecommunications is the subject of very different regulatory regimes and similarly the Internet will need its own distinctive system of regulation.

There is harmful content on the Internet.

The major problem here is child pornography and sexual solicitation of children. While Web sites and newsgroups featuring child pornography may be a tiny proportion of the total, nevertheless this material does exist in volume. In most cases, the production of this material has involved child abuse; in many cases, the users of such material are interested in, and may well have indulged in, child abuse. As for sexual solicitation, many groups involved with the welfare of children have considerable case material of paedophiles using the Net to make contact with, and arrange meetings with, minors with a view to molestation. We cannot simply accept this as the price for freedom of expression. In most countries, mere possession of child pornography is a criminal offence whether this occurs off-line or on-line.

Article about Ofcom

Ofcom have receive many complaints in the way they should be regulating for example an article in the Guardian paper shows these how Ofcom are changing and being more strict:

"Communications watchdog Ofcom is coming under increasing scrutiny after a series of controversial rulings.
Some broadcasting insiders have told the Evening Standard they believe Ofcom has become more aggressive under new boss Ed Richards.

Last month the regulator forced BSkyB to postpone plans to put its pay-TV channels on Freeview by ordering an investigation, which is not expected to report until early next year.

Ofcom has also flexed its muscles by imposing heavy fines on Channel Five and, for the first time, the BBC over the phone vote-rigging scandals".

Ownership and Control

Media ownership and censorship is also a commonly used term that refers to view that the majority of the media outlets are owned by a small number of conglomerates and corporations. According to William Melody, the greatest threat to freedom of expression in the US or elsewhere is the posibility that private entrepreneurs will always tend to monopolise the marketplace of ideas in the name of economic effciency and private profit.

Some nations can influence and control their media greatly. In addition, powerful corporations also have enormous influence on mainstream media.

In some places major multinational corporations own media stations and outlets. Often, many media institutions survive on advertising fees, which can lead to the media outlet being influenced by various corporate interests. Other times, the ownership interests may affect what is and is not covered. Stories can end up being biased or omitted so as not to offend advertisers or owners. The ability for citizens to make informed decisions is crucial for a free and functioning democracy but now becomes threatened by such concentration in ownership.