Legal
issues in the media –
·
Broadcasting
Act 1990 (and later amendments) - introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the 90's, this law was put in place because the BBC had most of the television and radio channels,
then a new channel was brought out, Channel 5. This was to encourage more
independent production companies rather than companies such as BBC and ITV
dominating the TV market, this forced the BBC to include at least 25 % of its
broadcasts from independent production companies. Another impact was that three
independent radio stations were allowed to be formed. The two companies which
now regulate broadcasting are 'the independent television committee and 'Radio
authority'. As a producer this would mean I have the right to create an
independent television or radio broadcast.
·
Official
Secrets Act 1989 - this act makes it a criminal offence to obtain /
publish information from a serving, or
former, member of the security and intelligence services, from certain
categories of civil servants or public contractors where disclosure would be
damaging. An
example of this law being breached would be the news of the world's phone
hacking scandal, in 2006 journalists of a newspaper hacked over 4000 phones.
This was breaching the official secrets act because they hacked MP’s phones,
causing controversy that the news of the world was completely shut down.
·
Obscene
Publications Act 1959 (and later amendments) - this act was brought in to stop anyone
publishing obscene material to the public. For something to be classed as
obscene it needs to be taken to court and evaluated, this could include;
extreme violence, pornography, controversy, etc. The first time this happened
was when the writer William Dugdale’s books were seen as pornographic and as a
result he was prosecuted. A producer would need to be aware of this so they do
not to offend the public; this is difficult because what some people see as
obscene others may not, there are now strict guidelines as to what is classed
as obscene.
·
Privacy
law - this gives people the right to not have information about their personal lives published, this includes information like their name, address or family life. Many people who work in the media industry have to be careful of this law while producing anything. For instance, any media production that includes administration such as call sheets need to be careful as these usually contain peoples personal details, they would normally include the name of each crew member and there contact details. If this information wasn’t confidential the production company would be breaching privacy law, this is because it could be potentially harmful to them. Another sector which has to be aware of this law is publishing, if a newspaper releases any personal information about someone like contact details this would also be breaching the law. One example of the privacy law being breached involved Simon Cowell, an X Factor judge, this is where a tracking device was allegedly found on his Rolls Royce. He threatened to prosecute the press because tracking devices are illegal.
·
Copyright
and intellectual property law – this is a big issue the media faces, legal
protection is advised so that original material can’t be used in somebody else’s
name. However, copyright can only be applied on the application of the idea,
not with the idea itself.
·
Liable
law -
this is the defamation of someone’s
character through writing, it is a lot like slander but spoken rather than
written. Many sectors of the creative media industry have to be careful of this
law especially in publishing; newspapers have to be careful when reporting an
article about somebody. If they wrongfully portray of someone’s character (or
company / business) then they are breaking the libel law and can be prosecuted.
An example of libel law being broken would be that which involved Jonathan
Ross, Russell Howard and Andrew Sachs. This was known as 'Sachs Gate' and
was a controversial BBC radio Broadcast, during the show they made a call to actor Andrew Sachs, some abusive messages were
left and aired. Not only was this saw as obscene but it was also considered
slander. Due to the defamation of Andrew Sachs's character, Russell Brand lost his job and Jonathan Ross was then suspended without pay.
Ethical
constraints in the media – Ethics depends on your morals, they are the moral principles that show
how a person or group acts.
There are
many ethical issues that TV producers are affected by including:
- Taste and decency; offend or insult - TV producers need to be aware of and respect that their audiences' have different views on what will cause offence.
- Truth/Accuracy
– for example, if a producer was to make a documentary they must make sure they
don’t mislead their audience’s. They must also take into consideration not to
alter or change any facts as this will undermine the audience’s trust in their
content.
- Privacy
– this is important in the media industry, producers must make sure that they do
not interfere with people’s personal lives and do not broadcast any material
that they know the persons do not approve of.
- Issues of fair representation - for example, when a reporter works on a story they will have to make sure not to be bias or one sided towards that story, they must gather both sides and be open minded, they have to show both for and against that particular story in order to gain a fair sided report.
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