Well how effectively can contemporary media be regulated? It is a question that cannot simply be answered with just a yes or a no, infact, it is such an in depth question that it could take a matter of days to sum up the pro's and con's of certain media regulations. Although people question the authority the big media regulations really have over today's media, companies such as the PCC (press complaints commission) and the BBFC (British board of classification).
The main duties of the PCC are to take control of any press mishaps that have been notified and act upon them accordingly. However it seems their role in doing so is questionable after failing to control the media on certain occasions. Newspapers such as the News of the World, were clearly guilty of phone hacking for a while, but they did nothing to try and act upon complaints from certain people they went to report about. Although they finally punished the News of the World after several years of doing nothing, they were found out about the phone hacking and then they shut down for good.
Because of this, the sun introduced "the sun on sunday" to replace the News of the World, even if many of the public are convinced this is just a replica of the old News of the World. This on going phone-hacking saga led to many of the press, police and politicians resigning after being involved in the scandal in some form or another. Also, the authority of the PCC was questioned so bad that it was involved in the levison enquiry concerning the principles of the PCC as a whole. Recently the PCC have decided to shut down, with their future under intense scrutiny.
Whereas in the BBFC, their main roles and responsibilites are to certify films in what they believe to be under the correct category. The categories are U (universal), PG (parental guidance), 12A, 12, 15, 18 and R18. They also have to judge whether the material is in conflict with the law or not.
However, when they attempt to ban a film that should not be watched what so ever, they receive a public onslaught as it gets them interested and suddenly want to watch this previously banned film. An example of this is "the human centipede 2" this film was already banned by the BBFC but recieved a backlash from the public stating they wanted it to be screened, plus, the Director Tom Six stated he was going to compose a third Human Centipede in the near future aiming to make the other two films look like disney films. Therefore the BBFC gave in and screened it as an 18, this shows the authority it seems the BBFC really have.
So that seems to answer the question, doesn't it? It seems no matter how much regulations try to keep control of the media, they just receive another twist in the tale to stop their authority. Its a major possibility that the media as a whole cannot be controlled, or if trying to be controlled then the effect wont be very effective.
Jack, make sure that your introduction is clearly focused on the question. Also in your introduction the last sentence does not make sense, link the PCC and the BBFC back to the question of how effective these two regulatory bodies are.
ReplyDeleteIn your paragraph about the PCC your essay makes some general comments that would be better supported with specific examples. Again remember the question - how effective is the PCC? Not very as it can only insist on an apology, no legal power. In relation to phone hacking that you mention I would also explain which PCC codes were clearly broken. This could then be linked to Ian Hislops comments at the Leveson Inquiry, where he stated that there is already a set of regulations for the press to follow, they (the press) just need to stick to these rules.
The paragraph about the BBFC, you have explained the classification of films. To show how effective the BBFC is you could add an example where a film rating has been changed. The use of The Human Centipede is a god example, just be careful how you word your answer. Your answer sounds like the BBFC changing its mind is effective.
Your conclusion appears to suggest that media regulation is not effective, however this does not come across very strongly in your essay.
Explanation/analysis/argument - 9 Level 2
Use of examples - 8 Level 2
Use of terminology - 4 Level 2