Regulation In The Creative Media Sectors

When producing a media product, whether it be a film or a game, the producer must take into consideration the legal laws and ethical considerations, these are called guidelines. It is important for production company's to have guidelines. If either they do not have guidelines or do not obey them, this may have a negative effect on the audience jeopardizing the production company or the product they have created. As the company could be sued and taken to court.

A regularly body is an organisation that sets out the guidelines for the production companies. If these guidelines are not followed the organisations must take complaints of the audience, then they must work around the complaints in order to solve the problems to make sure the guidelines are not disobeyed again. Their are three main regularly body's in the UK including ; Press Complaints Commissions (PPC), Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Office of Communication (OFCOM). I will now talk about these regularly bodies in more detail.

Press Complaints Commission
The PPC is an independent regularly body which conducts the system of self-regulations for the press. It does this by dealing with complaints, with the terms of the Editors Code of Practice, about the editorial content of the newspapers and magazines, as well as their websites. Also the conduct of journalists, it can also be targeted at individuals by representing their interests to editors in advance of an article about them being published.
The principle of the PPC is to arrange for the public to be protected by holding the editors to account, Their ambition is to protect the rights of individual, as well as to secure appropriate freedom of expression for the press. They productively advertise their services to people who need their help. Their is to promote high standards by expanding clear guidance and practical principles through their laws, and providing editors and journalists with advice and training's.
The PPC includes seventeen members and has a bulk of public members with no connection to the publication industry. The remaining seven commissioners are serving editor. The PPC enforces the Editors Code of Practice which is agreed by the publication industry, which deals with issues of accuracy and privacy in reporting and how journalists should behave when creating and producing news.  

The PPC acts by:

• Negotiating remedial actions and amicable settlements for complaints.
• Issuing ruling on complaints.
• Using published rulings as a means of guiding newsrooms practice across the industry.
• Publicly censuring editors for breaches of the Code.
• Passing on pre-publication concerns to editors to prevent the Code being breached.
• Passing on requests to editors that their journalists cease contacting individuals, and so prevent media harassment.
• Issuing formal guidance, based on it's interpretation of the Code, to the industry on important issues.
• Instigating it's own investigations under the Code in the public interest where appropriate;
• Conducting training seminars for working journalists and editors;
• Liaising with other press councils internationally.

They are committed to transparency and accountability and publicise all our rulings, they also raise awareness among policymakers, public agencies and charities, lawyers, officials, journalists and the general public about the work of the PPC.

The system is designed to maintain standards in the press by enforcing the terms of the Code and so holding editors to account, while still preserving appropriate freedom of expression. This is primarily achieved by the PPC administrating an efficient and free complaint service. They encourage complaints, as the more people use the system, the more editors are held to account for their decisions. This will - and indeed does - lead to a rise in standards. Some "standards" issues fall outside the remit of the Commission: questions of taste and offence; tone of coverage; newsworthiness of stories; quality of writing. It would be inappropriate for the Commission to comment upon these issues, as they are not covered by the Code of Practice. The test for the PCC must be whether the Code has been breached.

PPC enforced sanctions include:

• Negotiation of an agreed remedy ( apology, published correction, amendment of records, removal of article)
• Publication of a critical adjudication, which may be followed by public criticism of a title by the Chairman of the PPC)
• A letter of admonishment from the Chairman to the editor
• Follow-up from the PCC to ensure that changes are made to avoid repeat errors and to establish what steps (which may include disciplinary action, where appropriate) have been taken against those responsible for serious breaches of the Code.
• Formal referral of an editor to their publisher for action.

Advertising Standards Authority 

As the UK's independent regulator for advertising across all media, ASA's work includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing. if they judge an ad to be in breach of the UK Advertising Codes, it must be withdrawn or amended and the advertiser must not use the approach again. In 2012 they considered 31,928 complaints about 18,990 cases and we actively checked thousands of ads. Their work led 3,700 ads being changed or withdrawn.

The UK Advertising Codes are written by two industry committees: the Committee of Advertising Practice writes the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) writes the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising. 

As well as acting on complaints, they carry out many other regulatory activities to make sure advertising stays within the rules. For example, the ASA actively checks ads in all media and regularly conducts surveys of advertisements published by sectors where there is either unsatisfactory compliance with the Codes or where there are societal concerns about that sector.
And together with CAP, they work to support the industry to help them get their ads right before they are published. For example by providing guidance, pre-publication advice and training for the industry. 

There are many millions of non-broadcast ads published every year in the UK, so it would be impossible to pre-clear every one of them. For example there are more than 30 million press advertisements and 100 million pieces of direct marketing every year. Even though many steps are taken to ensure ads are in line with the Codes before they are aired or published, consumers have the right to complain about ads they have seen, which they believe to be misleading, harmful or offensive. If ASA have judged an ad to be in breach of the codes, then the ad must be withdrawn or amended. The vast majority of advertisers comply with the ASA's rulings and they act quickly to amend or withdrawn an ad that breaks the codes. We have a range of effective sanctions at our disposal to act against the few who do not and ensure they comply with the rules.

Office of Communication

 OFCOM is the communications regulator in the UK, they regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices. They make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive. Ofcom operates under a number of Acts of Parliament, including in particular the Communications Act 2003. Ofcom must act within the powers and duties set for it by Parliament in legislation. 

There main legal duties are to ensure:

• The UK has a wide range of electronic communications services, including high speed services such as broadband;
• A wide range of high-quality television and radio programmes are provided, appealing to a range of tastes and interests.
• Television and radio services are provided by a range of different organisations.
• People who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material.
• People are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes, and from having their privacy invaded.
• A universal postal service is provided in the UK - this means a six days a week, universally priced delivery and collection service across the country, the radio spectrum (the airwaves used by everyone from taxi firms and boat owners, to mobile-phone companies and broadcasters) is used in the most effective way.