Regulators

Press Complaints Commission

o   Regulates the press: newspapers & Magazines

o   Founded in 1953 as the Press Council though many companies breached their standards in the 1980s and in 1990 a report was made by the Home Office which led to the creation of the PCC by the press, to avoid external regulation. Though it has no legal powers, all press fund and adhere to its rules – making the press self-regulating. In 2011, the organisation was nearly replaced due to its lack of action in the Phone Hacking Scandal; instead, the company changed its guidelines though it is since being replaced with the Independent Press Standards Organisation.

o   Its rules are generally followed by the press; though if broken, any member of the public can report a publication which has volunteered itself to follow the rules of the PCC.  They can complain if the publication breaks any of the 16 parts of the PCC code of practice.

o   If any part of the code is broken, the PCC can force the publication company to correct an incorrectly printed fact, whether intended or not; they can make the publisher write an apology or provide a letter from the complainant. They cannot impose financial penalties on publishers.

BBFC

o   Regulates films and home releases like DVD or Blu-Ray.

o   Founded in 1912 as the British Board of Film Censors, the company reviewed cinemas to deem them fit for practice as shops and fairground huts had hastily been converted into cinemas at the time which caused a number of Nitrate fires. The BBFC also censored films and had the power to ban them if appropriate – in 1928, the Seashell and the Clergyman was deemed ‘too meaningless’ to be shown in cinemas. The name was changed in 1984 to the British Board of Film Classification as it did more at the time than censor films. As of 1984, they can censor home release like Video (at the time) and DVD and they also have the power to censor some games though this was passed to the Video Standards Council and PEGI.

o   It provides certificates for films, preventing audiences younger than the movies’ intended audience from watching – though many cinemas follow the guidelines set by the BBFC, they do not have to follow them and can choose not to showcase the film if cinemas think it should not be shown.

Ofcom

o   Regulates broadcasting (TV, Radio)

o   Founded in 2001 (announced by the Queen in her parliament speech) and launched in 2003 to replace the previous authority.  They license all UK TV and radio services in the UK. Broadcasters must comply with their terms and they must also follow their Broadcasting code – a list of rules which all TV and radio companies must apply to all their broadcast content. Following the phone-hacking scandal, an investigation was launched to find out if Sky Broadcasting was fit to broadcast as it was owned by the News Corporation; the investigation has still not been closed.

o   They have the power to ban and raid pirate radio stations in the UK and can prevent the broadcasting of shows if they do not adhere to their rules.

ASA

o   Regulates advertising in the UK

o   Partly founded in 1961 by the Advertising Association.  It was officially set up as the Advertising Standards Authority in 1962 to review complaints sent to them which about advertisements which breached the code set the year prior. The ASA has since remained the only advertising regulatory body in the UK.

o   They enforce rules which apply to Print, TV, Radio, the Internet. In print; news companies must have an advertorial – giving them permission to publish adverts, though if the editor decides to change the ad; it can be considered as an editorial. The ASA gained control over broadcast advertising in 2004; they can enforce rules for shopping channels, though only if they mislead customers or cause widespread problems. The company does have difficulty with ads on the internet due to its non-geographical nature.

Ethical Constraints

Affecting individuals’ lives on the show in various ways like their mental condition, such as traumatising them or making them depressed, affecting their career or offending them.

Affecting the audience in various ways like trauma or offense.

Reality TV

To apply to these constraints, reality shows must screen applicants before entering the show in order to find out if their physical and mental condition is deemed fit for to go on it. They must interview them and have them read and knowingly agree to terms and conditions by signing contract. For shows like Big Brother or I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, contestants would be examined to measure their physical, medical and mental fitness, so as not to drastically affect their health or mental condition. Many things which people say which are not suitable for broadcast because they degrade or make comment on a public personality or brand should be removed in the edit. There must also be someone nearby to help with people affected medically or mentally.
Reality TV often features footage from on the street, people who walk into shot and their faces are clearly visible have to either sign a contributor release form or their faces are blurred so as to respect their privacy if they wish not to be shown on television.
Many reality TV shows feature swearing or references to content of an adult nature which the producer has to ensure is censored or not featured in the show if it is broadcast before the watershed, some repeats of post-watershed hours broadcasts have to be severely edited to remove offensive language or inappropriate scenes.

Drama

To apply to constraints, shows which show a certain level of violence or gore must indicate before the show. Many shows have a reduced amount of gore and violence through the way it is directed and edited, this is dependent on the time of broadcast and the audience- many shows feature a reduced amount of this because it broadens the TA but others broadcast after the watershed time of around 8/9pm if they want to include more adult content which some viewers and children may find offensive or harmful; the decision of whether to include this content is given to the producer who is given a timeslot for which they can broadcast and that time may be before or after the watershed, though some producers decide when the appropriate time for the show to broadcast should be - Game of Thrones is broadcast at 9pm because it broadens the audience by being closer to prime time hours but includes adul content by being past the watershed (though in the UK, some Sky channels are PIN protected meaning there is no watershed). Any show broadcast before the watershed must conform to accepted rules which protect those effected by material in bad taste or are easily insulted, dramas like Doctor Who (rated 12 but appearing before the watershed) features no 'human' gore or violence and any adult content is only hinted at or suggested.
They also link to a helpline after the show for people affected by the content. Often, shows can feature stories which place characters in situations similar to that experienced by members of the audience or in the news. To avoid linking it to current affairs, fictional dramas sometimes have a message at the end stating that the events are fictitious and not based on any external event. This often happens after episodes of the soap drama: Eastenders, in which the characters are as-real people and the events within the show, may be similar to that of any of the audience.

Comedy

Often comedy shows need to review their content before airing it. Comments made as jokes could be confused as offense and could be misinterpreted as meaning the opposite of what it was meant to mean. Sometimes content could suggest things about people which could be taken seriously or give the wrong opinion, leading to legal battles. Sometimes the content on comedy shows could show situations like death or violence in a different way to how a drama would and could offend members of the audience affected by such things in reality.

Current Affairs

These shows must ask people for permission to use their image, logo or voice in a show. This is not always the case and sometimes shows can broadcast people’s faces if they are involved in a crime or similar to show people not to trust them, like in Rouge Traders. If they are undercover they must blur or pixilate individual’s faces if they do not consent for them to use it or if they have not asked permission to use it, the same applies to names, addresses and registration numbers.
Current affairs shows can not use off the record information unless they have a reliable source and legal permission - for instance if an article contains leaked information then they would need to verify it as true and if the information is protected by an equitable remedy such as an injunction then it is illegal to report on the subject.

Talk Show

On shows like the Jeremy Kyle Show, there must be security nearby to be able to intervene if someone becomes violent or aggressive. There must be support nearby to help those affected by the results read out on the show; this support could be in the form of a doctor or a councillor. When the results are read out, the presenter should remind them and the audience that they may not be 100% accurate and could have been affected by non-related factors like stress or excitement.
Audience members on talk shows have to sign to say that their likeness can be shown on TV if audience reactions are required in the show, meaning that for a portion of the show the camera will be pointing at the audience, if someone does not give consent then they may not be allowed to participate.
Talk shows can often have offensive guests who have to be censored at times at points where they might swear or if they express racist opinions, the producers must make the decision whether to broadcast such content and they must not be bias in who's argument they favour but show a fair representation of all parties where it is within their power.
Usually children are not featured on shows like Jeremy Kyle as the environment can be aggressive, abusive and inappropriate for children at times.