The media industry today is in two divisions, publicly funded and privately funded. As far as publicly funded broadcasters go the BBC are the only ones and they derive their funding by charging a licence fee for the right to watch TV.
The rest of the sector is commercial. These are companies such as ITV, Global, Orion and UTV Media who generate their revenue via advertising.
Both sides of the industry have their pressures – the BBC to live up to their “values” to justify the licence fee; the commercial companies to retain a viable audience to broadcast advertising to. However, all broadcast companies must observe similar legal and ethical constraints and regulatory bodies such as OFCOM (Office of Communications) and the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) regulate these companies to ensure they are abiding by the requirements.
In our society there is a great emphasis on “freedom of speech” and how we all have the right to our own opinion, however, in our media, to what extent is this actually true?
Broadcasters have numerous limitations when it comes to what they can and cant say on air and through transmission or publication. The OFCOM code, for example, has 10 main sections, which outlines exactly what broadcasting companies effectively can, or cant say. There is reference to concepts such as religion, crime, privacy and due impartiality, and if a broadcaster does not abide by this code then they can, or essentially will, get into trouble. The codes must be observed through all areas of publication and broadcast and will be catered for during the planning stages whether it be in the terms of a blog or website, a report or even a phone-in debate.
The OFCOM code isn’t the only practise broadcasters have to adhere too, some have their own internal codes and guidelines, which must be followed. The BBC have their own Producer Guidelines which outline what is acceptable for broadcast on the BBC and ensure their output is to an acceptable standard which reflects their values, their principles and their policies.
News is an element of media, which is in the main light when it comes to legal and ethical constraints. News reporters and writers need to be completely aware of what they can and cant say to ensure they do not libel or defame the subjects of their stories as they can face severe consequences.
The act of libel against an individual is to publish a false statement that is damaging to a persons reputation. To defame a subject, they will be portrayed in a way in which their existing good reputation will be damaged and if you are to slander an individual, you will make a false spoken statement damaging their reputation. All of these acts are taken very seriously; they can result in the loss of the public’s confidence in the broadcasters ability to relay accurate information and can also lead to court cases from the individual that was the subject of “attack”.
As well as constraints when reporting on individual personalities, there is also legislation in place in regards to court cases and parliamentary activity.
Firstly, there is the legislation concerning court cases and how the media can report on them. Essentially, they cannot report on much, as releasing information, in breach of restrictions, is a criminal offence and can possibly lead to the collapse of the on going trial. Journalists can report on the date, type and time of hearing but generally, background information about defendants and suspects cannot be published during a case’s hearing. As well as this, reporters could be charged for contempt of court if any information is reported that the jury hasn’t heard in court, as any additional information may jeopardise the verdict of the case.
When reporting for TV, the visuals which accompany the report need to be considered. After determining what imagery is available, it needs to be decided what is safe to use. This is because identification may be at the centre of the case and therefore will affect what images can be used. This is likely when victims and witnesses are concerned, firstly to be considered must be witness protection terms and after that, the nature of the case such as rape or sexual assault cases, as they will have identification constraints. Another reason whereby identification may be an issue is that when the defendant or witness is of a young age.
In addition to this, we have legislation in place in regards to parliamentary coverage throughout the media. There are two perspectives on parliamentary media coverage. First of all there is the coverage legislation in regards to government elections. Essentially, the rules are that all parties must be covered and portrayed equally. If one is allowed their say, the rest must be offered equal time in broadcast or publication. On the other hand, when reporting on government/parliamentary issues regarding information on issues such as war broadcasters must become creative in their reports as to relay accurate information which doesn’t compromise any information. The best example of this done is from Brian Hanrahan. A diplomatic editor for the BBC, he became well know for his coverage of the Falklands War, whereby during a raid he found a way to ensure the public the Harrier Jets returned safely without compromising military information. His famous quote “I’m not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but I counted them all out and I counted them all back”, meant he did his job of being a reporter and relaying accurate information to the public, without breaking any legislation constraints.
The BBC has their own dedicated team of duty lawyers that are available to their news staff. BBC WM News Editor Chris Blakemore was kind enough to come into one of our lectures and explain the roles of these lawyers and their relevance in the company. With a team of dedicated lawyers to their demise, the BBC can ensure that all of their news stories comply with any legislation requirements. A story can never be ran on-air or published if there are ever any second thoughts about its validity or compliance to the law. However, having a team of lawyers in the company means that if these queries are there, then the issues can be resolved before it is too late. Even when posting stories online to a live update system (like this one on the BBC Live & Local – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/birmingham_and_black_country), reporters have to make sure they all comply with codes and restrictions.
Where there are laws and constraints, there will always be offenders who fall foul to the regulations, these culprits are nearly always the tabloid press. In 2013 the Media Guardian released a list of the most complained about newspaper and below is the result.
The table shows the Daily Mail as the most complained about tabloid newspaper in the two year monitor period.
The importance of reporting practices emerged into the limelight after the phone hacking enquiry that lead to the collapse of “The News of the World.”
During its time, the news of the world was one of the most widely distributed and read tabloids in the country and was owned by News Corporation, and penultimately Rupert Murdoch. However, investigations were conducted between 2005 and 2007 to decipher whether or not the company were partaking in a phone hacking scandal, and in 2011 it was concluded speculations were correct.
The hacking into the mobile phone of schoolgirl Millie Dowler who was murdered in 2002 was the case at the centre of News of the Worlds’ collapse. The public were distraught at the thought of the mobile phone hackings, essentially headed by Rebekah Brookes, who was editor of News of the World and chief executive of News International.
The reaction was one of boycott and triggered a drastic re-evaluation of the media industry and how it is regulated due to the major breach of privacy and disregard for any ethical and moral values.
The series of events revolving around the phone hacking scandal are the reason behind the current constraints in the industry. There was always a need to regulate what was relayed via our media, but with ever growing capabilities as technology advances, the need for stricter constraints continues. Freedom of speech is just an expression, in reality, that speech needs to comply with a large list of regulations that ensure all media is fair, non-offensive and non-invasive.
Abiey Humphries 