BTEC Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production

Unit 7: Understanding the CreativeMedia Sector

Learning outcome 3:

Understand the regulation of the media sector

Name: Ellie Dawson

BTEC Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production

Understand the regulation of the media sector

Use this workbook to help you with this learning outcome. There is some guidance and further notes, which you should read and then remove, replacing it with your own answers.

Which regulatory body did you research? IPSO

What are they in charge of regulating?Over 1500 print titles and over 1100 online titles are regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation, a few examples of these print titles are 110% Gaming, 220 Triathlon, 25 Beautiful Homes and 365 Cross-stitch designs. Some examples of online titles are: www.110gaming.com/, www.allanwaterherald.co.uk, www.alloaadvertiser.com and www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/.

When was the body set up? Why was it set up?

IPSO was established on Monday 8 September 2014 following the windup of the Press Complaints Commission, which had been the main industry regulator of the press in the United Kingdom since 1990. The PCC received extensive criticism for its lack of action in the News International phone hacking scandal, including from MPs and Prime Minister David Cameron, who called for it to be replaced with a new system in July 2011. The Leveson Inquiry was set up and reported in November 2012, recommending in favour of the establishment of a new independent body.

How is this organisation funded? Why is it funded that way? Are there any benefits or drawbacks to being funded this way?(Considering how the funding might affect impartiality and interference from other bodies would help you give more detailed, higher level answers here. The 'About' section of most bodies website is a good place to start)

The Regulatory Funding Company is charged with raising a levy on the news media and magazine industries to finance the Independent Press Standards Organisation. This arrangement ensures secure financial support for IPSO.The advantage of it being funded by the RFC is that they have ‘increased security’.

What powers does the regulatory body have? What can they do if someone breaks their rules? Who gives these powers to the body?

BTEC Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production

(Making references to specific cases could help you create a more detailed answer. Finding specific information on when the body was set up and who helped create it will allow you to find out who gives the body any powers.)

IPSO handles complaints, and conducts its own investigations into editorial standards and compliance. It also undertakes monitoring work, including by requiring publications to submit annual compliance reports. IPSO has the power, where necessary, to require the publication of prominent corrections and critical adjudications, and may ultimately fine publications in cases where failings are particularly serious.The Government and the Queen are the people who give IPSO the power and let it happen.

How does the industry use it?(Different bodies will require the industry to work with it in different ways. Some require you to submit your work before publication whilst others work retrospectively, only reviewing your work if there is a complaint made. Some simply provide guidelines whilst other work to create laws, monitor companies and issue fines where required.)

Unless a complaint is made, IPSO will not review stories. This is because the whole purpose of their job is they will look into complaints and if the inquirer is correct and the story is not appropriate or is somewhat untrue, the story will be upheld.

How can the public use it?(Regulatory bodies often have customer or public facing arm, which allows the public to interact with it. This might be in the form of providing advice and guidance or it could involve being able to make complaints directly to the body. Sometimes they might intervene in a dispute between a member of the public and the industry. Find some specific details about how the public can use this body.)The public uses the IPSO in the way which if something is wrote about someone in the paper or it’s reported on TV and the information given or the things said about that person is wrong the IPSO will look into it to check whether the content is appropriate. If it is not and the victim is right then the story will be upheld, meaning that whoever reported it was in fact wrong.

What kinds of regulatory issues does your body deal with the most?IPSO deals with censorship, balancing privacy and freedom of information the most as they are the ones receiving complaints from the public who have issues with a story that has been published, IPSO decides whether the story should be upheld or not.

BTEC Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production

Case Studies:

Find a case study which demonstrates the regulatory body working in practice.(you should explain the issue they were working on and how it was drawn to their attention. You should explain the outcome and how that decision was reached. Regulatory bodies often need to be publically accountable and as such they usually have a good and often very up to date list of the cases they have worked on.)As a destination retailer – where customers make a point of visiting a store because they wish to view, research or purchase products – customer sales conversion rates were deemed to be falling short of potential. A key driver of this was colleague hours not being focussed on the right customer-centric activities. As a result, a review of in-store operations and the customer experience was launched with the help at the outset of management consulting partner, Capgemini Consulting, and later Ipso’s Retail Performance as subject matter experts.

Key to success was accurate measurement of the effectiveness of the trials.Ipso’s Retail Performance was already working closely with key members of the Homebase team in selected stores, providing footfall analysis and insights. It wasn’t simply the footfall metrics that Homebase were impressed with; Ipso’s Retail Performance was fully engaged with the new wider project, tailoring their solutions to meet the needs at hand as well as providing assistance, training and consultancy to fully support and utilise the metrics provided

Find a second case study which demonstrates the regulatory body working in practice.(you should explain the issue they were working on and how it was drawn to their attention. You should explain the outcome and how that decision was reached. Regulatory bodies often need to be publically accountable and as such they usually have a good and often very up to date list of the cases they have worked on.)Mothercare’s UK business had been hit by a combination of external economic factors, weaker footfall through the stores and increasingly tight margins, leading the retailer to embark on a major turnaround action plan. Key to their strategy was a better understanding of store productivity, including the way in which staff deployment, tasking and shop floor management affected store sales performance. The reduced footfall made Mothercare acutely aware of the need to maximise every customer opportunity and improve conversion rate; in some stores up to half of all customers left without purchasing. The review also presented an opportunity

BTEC Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production

to reduce the substantial wages bill through smarter deployment of store staff.Ipso’s Retail Performance’s Shopper Count provided the ideal solution; by monitoring footfall and conversion rates it could provide Mothercare with the insights needed to improve performance. To maximise staff effectiveness, Retail Productivity Manager, Mick Follett, also elected to deploy their online staff scheduling solution, Staff Review.

Regulation:

You should answer the following questions using the information you have gained so far in the unit to help you provide examples to support your opinions. You may also wish to undertake further research to help you produce detailed answers.

Should there be regulation of the media? Yes, I think regulations of the media definitely need to be in place because it prevents inappropriate or untrue stories being published, or at least if they are they are upheld. Also it allows for censorship and balance of privacy and protection for the public.If there wasn’t any regulation of the media I think many more people would be at risk of exposure and lack of privacy.

Should regulators be independent? Yes, as long as they still abide by the rules, because their duty of care is to get the best for the communication services and to protect the public from scams and sharp practices whilst ensuring competition can thrive. They also protect the public from being harmed by things on the TV or radio. Another reason is also because they ensuring the public are not being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes and having their privacy invaded. If they are independent it means that they can do things their way, and do things the way they think is right. Whereas if they were not independent they would be told what to do all the time and they may not have always agreed with what they were told to do.

Extension tasks

Answer just one of the following questions with a long form answer using specific examples to help support your opinions.

BTEC Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production

Why do we allow regulatory bodies to censor media products like films and video games? We allow this because it is protection for mainly children but also protection for everyone who is considering purchasing the game or film from harm or offense from any of the contents included. Another reason is because we can then feel confident that the age restriction on the film or video game is appropriate. Also there are warnings on the back of both which gives you an idea of what violent/offensive scenes are included. For example, if there were no age restrictions a young child could play a game or watch a film and be extremely affected by it in a bad way. Or even in some cases could be badly influenced by the violence in a game or a film.

or

Is it important to regulate adverts?

or

Is people’s privacy or freedom of information more important?