MEDIA REGULATIONS

Question:

Define media regulation and discuss the various types of media regulations

Regulation in its broadest sense consists of any influence over media operations and media content- influences that are both external to and internal to media industries.

Regulation is defined in a more narrow sense as: the legally binding, Government rules by which media organizations must operate.

Regulatory Terms

The discussion in this article contains three regulatory terms that are commonly used throughout the world. The first term is watershed (called `safe harbor´ in the United States), which means a specific time period late at night in which certain restrictions on content are relaxed because of the assumption that minors are not watching television or listening to radio.
 The second term is minutage, which means the total number of advertising minutes allowed during a prescribed segment of time (usually an hour).
 The third term is bumper, which is a momentary graphic image that appears on the television screen between regular programming and advertising, in order to create clear separation between the two types of content.

 TYPES OF MEDIA REGULATION

 There are 5 basic categories

1)      Regulation by government-related agencies

Across the world government establish agencies to regulate t6he media. These agencies have more power than other regulatory influences in terms of setting the basic rules by which the media must operate.

Naturally, government –related regulatory agency are closely linked to the Nation’s culture and prevailing philosophy for its media system

Government –related agencies are bureaucracies that have official oversight over media operations. Sometimes Government related agencies exercise dire ct control over all facets of media operations, while sometimes they are only able to offer suggested guidelines. Sometimes Government related agencies report directly to a department or branch of Government, while sometimes they operate as independent agencies that interpret and administer regulatory functions required by law.

Government related agencies can engage in two main regulatory activities.

·        Enforcement of regulations already passed by the Government

·        Development of regulations by the agency itself. These regulations are normally in accordance with agency’s jurisdiction as defined by the executive, legislature or judiciary.

2)      Media organizations/ professional organizations

Media organizations regulate themselves individually and collectively. This form of regulation is known as self regulation.

Media organizations are: television stations, radio broadcasters, production houses, newspapers, internet providers e.t.c that produce and deliver media content.

Individual self regulation is when for example a local radio station follows a policy against reporting suicides in the news stories to avoid copy cat versions.

Collective regulation is when for example a television station follows a policy of announcing whether alerts to meet public service goals outlined by a professional organization to which that station belongs.

Both individual and collective regulation is often implemented by media organizations in accordance with codes of ethical guidelines established by industry trade associations e.g. Ghana Journalist Association.

Media organizations regulate themselves to respond to a range of condition including competitor strategies, Government mandates, civic pressure groups, interpretation of legislation and audience media use.

3)      Civic groups

They are normally assembled as non-profit organizations by activists because of a concern about various aspects of media operations. Often primary motivation interest of a civic group is a moral commitment to prevent media operations or media content perceived as causing great harm to society.

Two areas of concern:

·        The violation of an individual’s right to privacy by a news program.

·        The potential of minors to be morally corrupted by content- e.g. cosmetic surgery and sexuality or profanity.

Civic groups often attempt to exercise influence over media operations by filing legal challenges to impact on media content; questioning a station’s license renewal; contacting station programmers about content perceived to be offensive; or by making public pronouncements about purported unfair or unethical media practices in order to embarrass a media organization into compliance with the desired changes.

4)      Advertisers/sponsorship clients

In most commercial media industries and in some state-owned non commercial media enterprises, media organizations rely on advertisers and sponsors for significant revenue streams. When advertising, sponsorship is a major funding source for media operations, a less overt form of regulation can occur. This kind of regulation result when advertisers exert implied request or direct demands that the media organizations with which they do business refrain from delivering a certain kind of content or advertising (or sponsorship) monies will be withdrawn.

5)      Audiences

They are obvious regulators of media operations. Without a viable audience, a media organization serves little purpose. To what extent the audience is relied upon to define the success of media content varies between countries and across the models that are used to finance media operations. If the primary or exclusive financial revenue stream is advertising, then the size or financial productivity of the audiences will play a greater role in the regulation of media operation and content by perceptions of audience tastes