Press Regulation

Broadcast:
Journalism output on television and radio is regulated by statute. Ofcom (the Office of Communications) is an independent regulator that adjudicates on complaints against broadcast journalists.

Commercial broadcasts must be impartial when covering political and social issues. They must also be accurate, fair, respectful of privacy, and must avoid causing harm or offence. Ofcom can enforce substantial fines if there is any breach of the code or even revoke their licence.

The BBC is slightly different in that they are still regulated by Ofcom, but they also have their own system of self-regulation in the form of the BBC Trust. Ofcom doesn’t regulate web content published by the BBC as it isn’t technically classed as broadcast content.

The BBC code of conduct is the system we have chosen to follow on our WINOL publication. The code is in the public domain and can be viewed here.

Ofcom does not have the power to suspend or revoke the licenses of the BBC, S4C or Channel 4 as these are all public service broadcasters, but they can award them a hefty fine for any breach of the code.  

There are 10 sections that fall under the Ofcom Code of Conduct:
1: Protecting the Under-Eighteens
2: Harm and Offence
3: Crime
4: Religion
5: Due Impartiality and Due Accuracy and Undue Prominence of Views and Opinions
6: Elections and Referendums
7: Fairness
8: Privacy
9: Commercial References in Television Programming
10: Commercial Communications in Radio Programming

Now for those of you who are avid campaigners for freedom of speech, this form of regulation on the press may not float your boat, but I assure you, it is in your best interest, and protects the integrity of your chosen profession.

Broadcast media has the capability to influence and offend their audiences much more than printed press. This is because the moving images and additional sound have a greater emotional impact on an audience, whereas printed text and images allow the audience to still maintain a sense of detachment from the report. The regulation of broadcasters is also necessary to prevent indecent or explicit from being portrayed to an unsuitable audience, such as children.

The regulation of broadcast media also prevents broadcasters from being politically partial which protects the integrity of the journalistic industry.

Print:
The PCC (Press Complaints Commission) is the regulator for printed publications, including newspapers and magazines. The PCC investigates complaints made by members of the public and aims to deal with these complaints within 35 days. This enforces a code that is drawn up by 13 editors from national, regional, and local newspapers and magazines. This means that effectively this is a form of self-regulation, the press regulating the press. This was put in place to prevent there from being a statutory form of regulation put in place and to protect the freedom of the press, however the PCC has always been regarded as somewhat of a “toothless tiger” posing no real threat to publications.

Since the phone hacking scandal the PCC has come under fire for not regulating the unethical actions of journalists and publications. Although the PCC is still in place journalism is currently in a regulatory limbo as journalists desire their own independent regulatory body, and the government wants there to be statute in the form of a royal charter.

The real debate is whether the journalism industry deserves another opportunity to self-regulate, and also the dangers that the over involvement of the government can pose. Freedom of speech is a foundation of our society and it should be protected.