LU12 Media Regulation.pptx

Media Regulation Learning Unit 12 Introduction Media regulation refers to all means by which media organizations are formally restrained or directed in their activities. The term media refers to publicly available means of communication, in particular the mass media of print, film,...

Media Regulation Learning Unit 12 Introduction Media regulation refers to all means by which media organizations are formally restrained or directed in their activities. The term media refers to publicly available means of communication, in particular the mass media of print, film, television, and radio, however distributed. Media Regulation Media regulation has always responded to changes in communication technology and successive “regimes” of media regulation can be identified, largely matching the dominant technology of the time. Regulation can be applied at FOUR main levels of media operation: 1) The infrastructure of distribution (cable, wireless, satellite, transport, cinemas, etc). At the first level, regulation mainly relates to technical matters of standards, connectivity, and pricing - basically in the interests of the industry itself and consumers. Media Regulation 2) The organization and structure of the organs of production (mainly but not only commercial firms). At the second level, issues of ownership, concentration, and diversity are most prominent. Media Regulation 3) The production itself. Regulation of production is not extensive, but there are sometimes controls on the amount of production and use of raw materials and other resources, plus various labor and industry-related laws. The conduct of media organizations in collecting information may also be subject to regulation or self- regulation. Media Regulation 4) The content of what is published or disseminated. Content regulation is hard to reconcile with media freedom, but it is nevertheless quite extensive, justified by fears of public and private harm, especially where largescale audiovisual media are involved. In many broadcasting systems there is still effectively a form of censorship, largely with public approval. Issues of Media Regulation The issues leading to demands for regulation can be classified as either of public or private concern. They can also be differentiated as either negative (the prevention of harm) or positive (securing some public benefit). Public Issues When it come to public issues, there are FOUR common themes: 1) Safeguarding public order and the security of the state. Most relevant are the possible stimulation of unrest, encouragement of criminal activities, subverting the justice system, publishing state or defense secrets, and assisting (wittingly or not) terrorist actions. Public Issues 2) Respecting public mores. This relates to matters of public taste and decency, portrayal of sex and violence, bad language, blasphemy, and disrespect for national or patriotic symbols. Public Issues 3) Securing public sphere benefits. The reference is mainly to the encouragement of positive media contributions to the working of the democratic political system and other social and cultural institutions. The heading covers issues of access and diversity arising out of media concentration. Similar remarks apply to expected cultural benefits from the media. Public Issues 4) Respecting human rights. Questions of discrimination, prejudice, and encouragement of violence in relation to various kinds of minorities arise here. Private Issues As for the private sphere, there are also FOUR common themes: 1) The protection of individual rights to reputation, privacy, respect, and dignity. 2) Preventing offense to individuals by way of shock, alarm, fear, disgust, distress, insult, etc. Private Issues 3) Preventing harm to individuals. Harm to publication can take several forms, including material loss as a result of defamation, moral corruption, instigation to suicide or violence, and incitement to violence on the part of others. 4) Protection of property rights in communication and information. New media have extended the forms of intellectual property beyond those covered by original copyright laws. Media Policy and Regulation The main purposes of policy on media regulation can be summarized as follows: To guarantee freedom of publication. To protect individuals and society from possible harm. To promote a diversity of provision in terms of sources and content. To ensure wide or even universal access to communication facilities for private use and to participation in the mass-media audience. To promote a number of social and cultural goals, including local, national, and sectional identification. To maintain open and effective markets in media services. Media Policy and Regulation These goals are not always consistent with each other, especially when market operation conflicts with social and cultural objectives or where intervention to secure social and cultural goals interferes with market operation. Phases of Regulation Regulation of telegraph, wireless, telephony, and postal services. These media were not used for mass distribution, but mainly for internal use by businesses, bureaucracies, governments, transport services, and the military. The main aims of regulation were: to ensure rapid development, technical efficiency and, where relevant, universality of service; to serve the strategic and military interests of the state; and to comply with international agreements for cross-border communication and use of airwaves. Phases of Regulation The widespread of the new audiovisual media, starting with the cinema and extending to include radio and television broadcasting by mid-twentieth century – require stringent forms of control. The main rationales of broadcasting regulation: to protect health and safety (e.g., cinema regulation and rules affecting advertising of alcohol and tobacco); to safeguard morals and uphold public decency; to prevent harm to vulnerable individuals and to society (by the possible stimulation of violence, crime, or public disorder); to provide various educational, cultural, and informational public benefits. Phases of Regulation There are also a less open motives for control. Such as: to maintain political and social control of a potentially destabilizing or disruptive influence; to protect the security and sovereignty of the state; to serve the national interest, commercially and politically; to protect existing media from excessive competition. Phases of Regulation The Internet era It is the quintessential new medium, with immense capability, overlapping with all previous media. It is still almost entirely free from direct regulation of any kind. It has no formal central organization or national location, although there is a limited amount of direction by international, non-profit bodies, especially the International Committee for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). There is no international legal control for a medium whose activities often cross frontiers. Phases of Regulation Threats of Internet the Internet is increasingly being developed, as a result of broadband, as an alternative means of mass distribution (e.g., the downloading of music and film). There are also new issues of social concern that have arisen in relation to the Internet, especially to do with new types of “cybercrime,” national security, and threats to the integrity of the Internet system itself, on which so much business and other activity now depends. There are also new threats arising from the access that the Internet gives to young or vulnerable people in matters such as pornography and paedophilia. The Means of Regulation When regulation is broadly defined to cover all forms of governance and all varieties of media, the range of forms is very wide. The means of regulation can be categorize into FOUR main categories: 1) Formal, external regulation 2) Formal, internal regulation 3) Informal and external regulation 4) Informal, internal regulation Formal, External Regulation Formal, external regulation refers to laws and other public regulations to which media are obliged to conform. This includes the specific laws for press, broadcasting, and communication that some countries have, as well as general laws applying to all citizens that also apply to media (e.g., concerning defamation, respect for property rights or privacy, incitement to hatred, crime, or violence). Formal, Internal Regulation Formal, internal regulation covers the management and financial control exerted by a media firm in the pursuit of its objectives and with reference to obligations to clients, audiences, and society generally. The term self-regulation applies to this category, where responsibility for meeting certain public standards is delegated to the media themselves. Informal, External Regulation Informal and external regulation is a somewhat elastic category that covers the constraints exerted by market forces, lobby and pressure groups, and public opinion. Informal, Internal Regulation Informal, internal regulation covers the control exerted by professionalism, organizational and work cultures, and sometimes embodied in voluntary codes of norms and practices that media claim to adhere to. The Future The main trends in regulation that have been described involve: a continuing process of deregulation, especially by increasing distance of government from media and increased reliance on market disciplines; a greater emphasis on economic and technological than content issues; the encouragement of self-regulation by media industries; an attempt to increase the coherence of regulatory measures across different media; and small steps towards international regulation (accelerated somewhat by the wish to combat international crime and terrorism). Summary Media Regulation Issues of Media Regulation Media Policy and Regulation Phases of Regulation The Means of Regulation Reference and further reading McQuail, D. (2007). Regulation of media. In G. Ritzer. (Ed.). The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology (pp. 1-6). John Wiley & Sons.