Legal and Ethical constraints in the creative media sectors
Legal constraints
Legal constraints are laws that limit certain things that you can broadcast to a audience. Things concerning minors and offensive content come under the legal constraints. If producers do not follow these legal constraints then they will have to face the consequences, these consequences can range from a fine, suspension from broadcasting or a complete ban from ever working as a producer in the industry. This depends on how severe the breach in the law is or how many times you have broken the law.
Sachsgate incident
The sachsgate incident was when Russel Brand and Jonathon Ross did a pre recorded interview with actor Andrew Sachs, however he wasn't at the phone so they left some messages on his answer phone. Things got out of hand because of Russel Brand and Jonathon Ross leaving several inappropriate messages about Andrew Sachs and his daughter. The producer chose to broadcast this which turned out to be a big mistake because of the massive backlash from the public. Several high up people were calling for Russel Brand and Jonathon Ross to be either banned or to no longer be funded by license fee.- Obscene Publications Act 1959
http://www.channel4.com/producers-handbook/media-law/other-laws-affecting-broadcasting/obscene-publications-act-1959
.jpg)
A clockwork orange is a film that was banned from 1973 to 1999 because of the obscene publications act because of sexual violence and a claim that clockwork orange was an inspiration for the manslaughter that a 14 year old boy committed. The film was also condemned for for a rape because the rapist was singing a song from the film.
- Human Rights Act 1998
Examples include unsafe working conditions which lead to thousands dying because of a collapsing building. Egypt's epidemic of violence and sexual abuse which lead 600 deaths and 91 women assaulted.
- Official Secrets Act 1998
The official secrets act is used to prevent producers from publishing government secrets to the public. If this is then the person responsible could face jail time as well as a ban from the industry. The act is to prevent useful information falling in to criminal hands or to maintain international relations.
Richard Tomlinson was accused of breaking the official secrets act. He was a former spy for Britain, because of this he knew a lot of British secrets which wouldn't be good if leaked. in return for secrecy the government gave Richard Tomlinson a loan and a marketing job. Once Richard Tomlinson returned from Australia he was arrested on the claims of breaking the official secrets act after he had released information to the Australian office.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Tomlinson
Anthea Turner had a breach in her health and safety resulting in a fire accident. An explosion next to her before she could move out of the way, this was because of a mistake in what the pyro technic thought was a que triggering the explosion.
Richard Tomlinson was accused of breaking the official secrets act. He was a former spy for Britain, because of this he knew a lot of British secrets which wouldn't be good if leaked. in return for secrecy the government gave Richard Tomlinson a loan and a marketing job. Once Richard Tomlinson returned from Australia he was arrested on the claims of breaking the official secrets act after he had released information to the Australian office.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Tomlinson
- Health And Safety Act 1974
Anthea Turner had a breach in her health and safety resulting in a fire accident. An explosion next to her before she could move out of the way, this was because of a mistake in what the pyro technic thought was a que triggering the explosion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD7gRZCx2rs
As you can see communication between the production team wasn't clear which led to a breach in someones health and safety.
As you can see communication between the production team wasn't clear which led to a breach in someones health and safety.
Laws in the media
Privacy Law
The privacy law is to maintain the persons own privacy. It is to prevent the individual from public harassment and the right to not come under public fire because of something done in the content being produced. The privacy law also makes sure that anyone who does not wish to be filmed won't be. However because of the internet and it is getting hard to keep this law up to date and relevant because of how fast information can be spread around the internet, such as private pictures or anything else which isn't wanted to be made public. The president of the supreme court, Lord Neuberger commented saying that he believes that the privacy law should be updated to tackle these issues caused by the internet and people using it to commit harassment.
.jpg)
The most recent big offence would be the news of the world incident which is also known as the phone hacking scandal. The scandal had been going on for quite a few years with multiple cases of celebrities private messages and documents being exposed by Rupert Murdoch's news corporation which had a massive influence in media and in politics which meant that no one would challenge them because their secrets would be exposed to the public which would ruin their reputation. The final straw was when they hacked into a missing girls phone and deleted some of the voice mail messages giving the family false hope. This sparked a lot of public outrage and eventually led to the company shutting down in the UK.
http://documentaryaddict.com/rupert+murdoch+breaking+the+spell-9585-doc.html
Here is the link to the documentary telling the story about the phone hacking scandal and who was involved in bringing down News Corporation as well as the previous illegal hacking incidents that were swept under the rug.
The most recent big offence would be the news of the world incident which is also known as the phone hacking scandal. The scandal had been going on for quite a few years with multiple cases of celebrities private messages and documents being exposed by Rupert Murdoch's news corporation which had a massive influence in media and in politics which meant that no one would challenge them because their secrets would be exposed to the public which would ruin their reputation. The final straw was when they hacked into a missing girls phone and deleted some of the voice mail messages giving the family false hope. This sparked a lot of public outrage and eventually led to the company shutting down in the UK.
http://documentaryaddict.com/rupert+murdoch+breaking+the+spell-9585-doc.html
Here is the link to the documentary telling the story about the phone hacking scandal and who was involved in bringing down News Corporation as well as the previous illegal hacking incidents that were swept under the rug.
Copyright And Intellectual law
The copyright and intellectual law is in place to protect someones original work being stolen and used under their own name. This law probably has the most breaches or at least the most allegations of being broken. The copyright and intellectual law covers pretty much everything including music, videos, pictures, design, logos and tittles of films, books or games. If someone breaches copyright and is found guilty all of their earnings on that particular project go towards the original owner of the stolen property.
Itunes put some Russian films on their store without permission from the producers so they were charged and the films were taken off the store.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12310070
Libel Law
Libel law is to protect someones reputation by not producing content which is taken out of context or has false information about the person which would lower their reputation. Doing so could get you sued or libel law and for putting that person under public scrutiny.
An example of libel law is on the great British bake off where one contestant was made out to look bad when her intentions weren't what was made out to be in the show. Because of this her and her family came under fire from fans on the internet.
Itunes put some Russian films on their store without permission from the producers so they were charged and the films were taken off the store.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12310070
Libel Law
Libel law is to protect someones reputation by not producing content which is taken out of context or has false information about the person which would lower their reputation. Doing so could get you sued or libel law and for putting that person under public scrutiny.
An example of libel law is on the great British bake off where one contestant was made out to look bad when her intentions weren't what was made out to be in the show. Because of this her and her family came under fire from fans on the internet.
Ethics in media
Ethics need to be considered by producers because they are vital to preventing backlash from the public. To stay ethical you have to keep in mind that something may harm or offend people such as racism or inappropriate content such as sex and swearing. To prevent some backlash it is advised that you warn people before the content starts as well as having a later broadcasting time. Producers should stay away from stereotypes because they can be very offensive especially if they aren't true. Ethics also relate to recent events that have happened in real life such as school shootings so people delay content which might have violent content which at the time would be insensitive.
Some figures in the media have reputations for not considering ethics in their content such as the comedian Frankie Boyle. Frankie Boyle's content is very rude and has no limits to how dark and offensive it can be, where as some people are offended some find his content amusing and like the no limits content and think that if someone isn't challenging the line which society thinks we shouldn't cross then we wouldn't know where it is.
Ethics differ from laws and acts in a way because they are not set in concrete because ethics can differ between peoples opinions and don't necessarily constrain you in what you make. However doing something unethical can lead to negative publicity which can either make or kill a film. An example of a film using the negative attention to make it much more famous than it would have been is the interview. Because of the negative attention from north Korea, leading to the film being canceled but then it was released with the attention of the hacking group Anonymous and the US government.
The sachsgate incident also comes under ethics because of the rude and offensive things that were said to Andrew Sachs and his daughter. The radio broadcast got massive backlash resulting in 37,500 complaints being made to the BBC for publishing this material. The BBC were fined 150,000 as well as Johnathon Ross being suspended from pay for 12 weeks. Offcom had a role to play in the punishment of the BBC which leads to Offcom and ethics in the media.
A lot of controversy comes from minors in the media. Minors are a controversial topic because they can be easily manipulated and controlled to do things on television. It is strictly prohibited to film a minor without his and their carers permission. Product placement is also a controversial topic because of advertisements growth in today's media and people don'w want more advertisement in their shows.
A lot of controversy comes from minors in the media. Minors are a controversial topic because they can be easily manipulated and controlled to do things on television. It is strictly prohibited to film a minor without his and their carers permission. Product placement is also a controversial topic because of advertisements growth in today's media and people don'w want more advertisement in their shows.
The use of off the record information has become an issue in today's media because of the internet and how information can be spread round fast and easily but the correct information isn't always passed around and can be twisted into something not entirely true.
Broadcasting codes and guidelines
Offcoms code of conduct is to protect under 18's (minors), preventing harm and offence, crime, religion, due impartially, elections and referendums, fairness, privacy and commercial references in television programming. These are the rules and principles of offcom surrounding ethics in the media.
The BBC Editorial Guidelines are in place to keep any BBC product in line with the law and in line with ethics. Everything listed above is something that the BBC editorial guidelines tries to keep in line with. These guidelines are made to have the audience at the top of their priorities which comes under respecting privacy and to stay away from harming and offending people.
The channel 4 guidelines are to be honest and open towards their audience and to keep their integrity. An aim of the channel 4 guidelines is to not mislead people to think that the content is necessarily true in the real world such as stereotypes.
These are nine things that come under the guidelines of channel 4
1.Factual Programme Guidelines
2.Competition Guidelines
3.Secret Filming Guidelines
4.Fair Dealing Guidelines
5.Hostile Filming Guidelines
6.Live Programme Guidelines
7.Producer Data Protection & Security Guidelines
8.Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Guidelines9.Working and Filming with Under 18’s Guidelines
2.Competition Guidelines
3.Secret Filming Guidelines
4.Fair Dealing Guidelines
5.Hostile Filming Guidelines
6.Live Programme Guidelines
7.Producer Data Protection & Security Guidelines
8.Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Guidelines9.Working and Filming with Under 18’s Guidelines
No comments:
Post a Comment