Press Complaints Commission

In 2012 what proportion of complaints made to the PCC where about accuracy in reporting?
In 2012 the proportion of complaints made to the PCC about the accuracy in reports was 61%.

What proportion of complaints where related to intrusion into privacy?
In 2012 the proportion of complaints made to the PCC about the intrusion of privacy was 15%.

Who was the code drawn up by? 
The code was drawn up by the editors themselves and also covers the way in which the news is gathered by the journalists and editors and also how this news is reported.

How do the PCC justify their self regulation of their industry? 

How is the PCC funded? 

The PCC is funded via newspaper and magazines. A levy is also raised by the Press Standard Board of Finance which helps to pay for the PCC, also the PCC receives no funding from the Government at all. This does not make much sense as the PCC will be less obligated to punish newspapers and magazines more severely with fines etc as they are the ones that are paying for the PCC itself.

List the 16 main headings of the code of practise of the PCC 


The sixteen main headings are:

1. Accuracy
2. Opportunity to reply
3. Privacy
4. Harassment
5. Intrusion into grief or shock
6. Children
7. Children in sex cases
8. Hospitals
9. Reporting in crime
10. Clandestine devices and subterfuge
11. Victims of sexual assault
12. Discrimination
13. Financial Journalism
14. Confidential Sources
15. Witness Payments In Criminal Trails
16. Payment To Criminals

Example

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/care/pcc-to-investigate-daily-mail%E2%80%99s-homelessness-claims/6522635.article

ASA Research

What is the stated purpose of the ASA?

The ASA regulate the UK advertising across a lot of forms of media, these include the printed media, broadcasted media, directed marketing and internet advertisements, their work includes acting on complaints and pro-actively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.

When did the ASA take on responsibility for regulating advertisements on TV and Radio?

The ASA did not always have the responsibility of regulating the TV and Radio advertisements, it mainly regulated the advertisements in the printed media, but in November of 2004 the ASA was handed the control regulations responsibilities for TV and Radio advertisements from the state bodies who were the former regulatory body for advertisements.

What had it previously regulated?

Before 2004 the ASA still regulated media advertisements but it did this for a significantly smaller amount of the industry, so before they could regulate the adverts within the broadcasted media (Radio and Television), the internet and directed marketing they could only regulate one form of media. The media that they could regulate was the printed media , such as newspapers and magazines.

Example

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/asa-to-investigate-sexist-asda-ad/4004700.article

Ofcom Regulation

Which media does Ofcom handle complaints about?

Ofcom regulates many different forms of media across the whole industry. This is ranging from Television and Radio to Telephone and Broadband services. Ofcom also regulates the post with the offshoot of the division called Postcomm. As Ofcom regulates many different types of media this could be a bit of a problem as they would have to regulate a lot of media and can not just focus on one media format.

What aspects of a programme broadcast on commercial radio and TV can consider?

The aspects that Ofcom can consider about TV and commercial radio are a wide variety. This can range from the content of the programme or commercial radio broadcast to the quality of the content being provided.

What issues can consider relating to programmes broadcast by the BBC?

With the BBC's license fee funded broadcasts Ofcom can only regulate certain things with these broadcasts, the BBC Trust is in charge of regulating the broadcasts of the BBC. The criteria that Ofcom can regulate are:

• Protection of Under 18s
• Harm and Offence
• Avoidance of inciting crime and disorder
• Responsible approach to religious content
• Prohibition of use of images of very brief duration
• Fairness
• Piracy

With the BBC's commercially funded broadcasting they must comply with the whole of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

What issues can it consider relating to sponsorship?

Ofcom can regulate the sponsorship of programs to ensure that unsuitable sponsorships can be prevented. This is done by looking into these areas:

• Transparency to ensure sponsorship arrangements are transparent.
• Separation to ensure that sponsorship messages are separate from programmes and to maintain a distinction between advertising and sponsorship.
• Editorial independence to ensure that the broadcaster maintains editorial 

There are only two different types of content that can not be sponsored and these are, News Bulletins on the radio and also News Presentations on the Television.

What sanctions can it impose on media institutions?

There are several different sanctions that Ofcom can give to broadcasters depending on the severity of the offence that they have committed. On the lower end of the scale Ofcom can tell a broadcaster not to show repeats of a certain programme or to show the the summary of the Ofcom investigation and the outcome of this. On the other end of the scale, Ofcom has the power to fine broadcasters and as a very last resort can take their license to broadcast.

What is not within its remit?

Even though Ofcom regulates a lot of things within the media industry there are several things that are out of their hands, these are:

• Disputes between you and your telecoms provider.
• Premium-rate services, including mobile-phone and text services and ringtones.
• The content within adverts.
• Complaints about BBC programmes accuracy.
• BBC License Fee
• Post Offices
• Newspapers and Magazines.

Example Of Ofcom Complaints

In September of 2012, The TV Watchdog Ofcom A Lady Gaga song performed by Alison Brunton. Ofcom recieved over 35 complaints about the segments all about the impact of the performance of Alisons two teenagers who are shown to be distressed by this. Full Story Here.

The Dark Knight Rises BBFC

From researching some of the complaints about the release of The Dark Knight Rises to the BBFC I have found some reasons that the fans of the film were not too happy. Firstly, it has been said that there has been about 34 seconds worth of footage been cut from The Dark Knight Rises cutting out 34 seconds of footage from The Dark Knight Rises. This has lead to people wondering if Warner Brothers cut out some of the more violent or gruesome scenes from the film just to achieve the 12A rating that the original Dark Knight had. Other have complained about the whole 12A Rating as a whole saying that the action and violent scenes are edited in a way that is just too fast not showing enough of the action just to achieve a 12A rating.