REGULATORY AND PROFESSIONAL BODIES WITHIN THE CREATIVE MEDIA SECTOR

Daniel Harrison

Task 3 Understand the Regulation of the Media Sector

• The BBFC is a company that is funded by the film industry which means that it is a one profit company .Their job is review a film just before the film reciced to the public . Then once they have watched the film they will decide what age the film should be rated at ether U,PG,12,15,18 or R18 .This will decide at what age people can watch the film at . The main point of their job is to protect the public (mainly the younger generation) from harm that could be seen when watching from younger people that may upset or disturb them. It gives support to the police and other enforcement agencies to protect the public .It also gives the parent's of children the power to decide if the film is ok for their children.

BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CLASSIFICATION (BBFC)

PEGI • PEGI or pan European game information is like the BBFC but instead of with films they are used to determine the age ratings of games should be rated at and at what age people are able to play the game. They also show what type of things that could be classed as being harmful for people by displacing it on the cover like is shown on the bottom left. Their main goal is to protect the people and make sure that they will not be harmed by the content on the game . They do this by making sure that they are able see what type of age range this game has been rated at . It has also been done to give parents the power to allow or disallow their children to play the game or not.

FILM DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION

• The FDA is the main source for distributors in film industry that started in 1915 . They set the times of release of most films in the UK and they are the people who put the movies into the cinema .They are also a member of the all industry market for cinema or Aim its job is to increase the British cinema audience .

VIDEO STANDARDS COUNCIL (VSC)

The VSC or the video standards council is a non profit company that was created in 1989.Their main job is to make sure that PEGI is keeping to the strict age rating for video games and to make sure that the age rating of a games is clear and understandable to the public .It also trains employers about how to deal with stopping people who are younger than their age range for games DVDs etc .

• OFCOM or the Office For Communication is used to regulate TV and radio broadcast as well as phones and other airways. They was created by the government in 2002 under the communication act to regulate the airways .Their main job in the media industry is to make sure that the things that are aired are suitable for the time and the audience of the network . And make sure that there is no harmful material on the show that is not suitable for the time aired for ensample not swearing or heavy violence before nine o clock .They are also in charge of listening to complaints from the public that will be infoursed if it is needed to protect the public

OFFICE FOR COMMUNICATION (OFCOM)

TRADING STANDARDS CENTRAL

The TSC or the trading standards central was set up in 2010 .Their main objective is manage the trade market. They do this by advising businesses on trade , they make sure that no scams or rip off are in play in the market and make sure that honesty is used in the market .They are also made to make sure that all market standers are kept and enforced.

PRESS COMPLAINTSCOMMISSION (PCC)

The PCC is an independent organization that deal with complaints that are within the media industry mainly with newspapers , magazines and press related instances. There main goal is to serve the public by dealing with their complains . Anybody can call or write a letter to them to make a complaint about the media industry and they will attempt to solve the problem .They do things like removing pictures or names from articles but they also do other things such as helping the privacy of people who do not wished to be interviewed .Overall they try to protect the rights of the public.

ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY(ASA).

• The ASA or advertising standards authority are a company that is independent and is used in all types of media . They are used to make sure that advertisements throughout the media industry that on TV radio etc. are safe to go on the air . They will make sure the advert is safe and that it does not offend or hurt anyone before letting it safely go onto the air(or written to the public if o a news paper) .They also will investigate any complains that the public may have against an advert if it is needed .Once it has been investigated if action is needed they will take it . there are some that have been banned from air for example there was a skittles advert that was banned for having sexual content .They will also make sure that no advert is misleading the viewer .

BBFC FILM AGE RATING

• There was an intent with the film Star wars and the whole of its series . The makers of the film who was created by gorge Lucas company . They whished for there movies to be age rated as being a U by saying that it is a film for the whole family . But after carful inspection of the film the British Board Of Film Classification thought that it should be set as a PG because of the violent scenes that are in the movie they thought that some of the scenes may scar the younger viewers .Because of this it was classed as being a PG in America by the MPAA where as in Briton and Europe it was given a rating of a U by the BBFC.

• There was an insistent on the BBC with two famous comedians Russell Brand and Jonathon Ross pranked called an elderly actor Andrew Sachs on his radio show on BBC radio 2 . During this call Russell Brand was talking about inappropriate things about his Grand daughter . Once Ofcom got a hold of the information they immediately took action by sewing the BBC a total of £150,000. The reasons for them interfering was they was telling the public confidential information about his granddaughter ,They was infringing privacy , has a management risk and put BBC at risk of inappropriate shows on its airways. This incident got a lot of complaints from the public demanding an apology . They both did make an apology to the actor but sadly Russell Brand did it in a joking way which caused him more problems . In the after match Russell Brand got fired and was forced to leave the BBC . And Jonathon Ross decided to move on .

OFCOM RUSSELL BRAND AND JONATHON ROSS

REFERENCES……..

HTTP://WWW.BBFC.CO.UK/CASE-STUDIES/STAR-WARS

HTTP://CONSUMERS.OFCOM.ORG.UK/2009/04/BBC-BRANDROSS-FINE/