Newspaper regulation
Task One: Media Magazine article and questions
Read the Media Magazine article: From Local Press to National Regulator in MM56 (p55). You'll find the article in our Media Magazine archive here. Once you've read the article, answer the following questions:
1) Keith Perch used to edit the Leicester Mercury. How many staff did it have at its peak and where does Perch see the paper in 10 years' time?
''Where does he see a paper like The Mercury, which once employed 130 journalists, in ten years time? Perch thinks that if it is still in print, it will be weekly, extremely expensive, and have a very small circulation; if it is online only – the likeliest outcome – it will be unlikely to make money, and so would employ as few as five or six staff.''
2) How does Perch view the phone hacking scandal?
''The biggest single issue is that something illegal was going on which obviously should not have been, and which wasn’t dealt with by the police, and unfortunately the resulting actions have been disproportionate [...] Far too many newspapers and magazines have been caught up in a regulatory system that they shouldn’t really be caught up in [...] A small section of the press was behaving in a totally unacceptable way, but it should have been dealt with legally. I don’t think regulation is the
answer. I know many people point to Leveson and the fact he held a massive inquiry, but I don’t think he looked carefully enough at what is happening in the regional press or in small weekly papers. I think his form of regulation is unacceptable, and that actually what people really want to do is ‘tame’ the press.''
The Independent Press Standards Organisation.
A newspaper has 28 days to deal with a complaint. If it hasn’t been resolved, the complainant can then take it to the IPSO Complaints Committee, which will decide if the Editor’s Code of Practice has been broken. If it has, the Committee can insist on corrections and demand that they be placed on a particular page.
4) What is Perch's view of newspaper ownership?
''Ultimately if people wanted to, they could buy The Guardian or The Mirror and just ignore The Sun. But they don’t, they buy The Sun! Rupert Murdoch is as entitled to his say as you or I. There are a million different voices online but everyone chooses to listen to the views in print – The Daily Mail’s website is far far bigger than anybody else’s little blog or point of view.''
5) Do you agree with his view that broadcast news should have less regulation so that TV channels can support particular political parties or people?
Some people think letting TV channels support political parties openly could make things clearer for them while others worry it might turn the news into ads for those politicians and make it more dishonest.
Task Two: Newspaper regulation exam question
Write an answer on your blog answering the following exam question:
What are the arguments for and against statutory regulation of the newspaper industry? [20 marks]
Aim to write an answer of around 400-500 words featuring at least three detailed paragraphs. Make sure you cover both sides of the debate. This topic could well be our 20-mark essay at the end of Paper 1, Section B so it's great preparation for the summer exams.
Read the Media Magazine article: From Local Press to National Regulator in MM56 (p55). You'll find the article in our Media Magazine archive here. Once you've read the article, answer the following questions:
1) Keith Perch used to edit the Leicester Mercury. How many staff did it have at its peak and where does Perch see the paper in 10 years' time?
''Where does he see a paper like The Mercury, which once employed 130 journalists, in ten years time? Perch thinks that if it is still in print, it will be weekly, extremely expensive, and have a very small circulation; if it is online only – the likeliest outcome – it will be unlikely to make money, and so would employ as few as five or six staff.''
2) How does Perch view the phone hacking scandal?
''The biggest single issue is that something illegal was going on which obviously should not have been, and which wasn’t dealt with by the police, and unfortunately the resulting actions have been disproportionate [...] Far too many newspapers and magazines have been caught up in a regulatory system that they shouldn’t really be caught up in [...] A small section of the press was behaving in a totally unacceptable way, but it should have been dealt with legally. I don’t think regulation is the
answer. I know many people point to Leveson and the fact he held a massive inquiry, but I don’t think he looked carefully enough at what is happening in the regional press or in small weekly papers. I think his form of regulation is unacceptable, and that actually what people really want to do is ‘tame’ the press.''
3) What does IPSO stand for and how does it work?
The Independent Press Standards Organisation.
A newspaper has 28 days to deal with a complaint. If it hasn’t been resolved, the complainant can then take it to the IPSO Complaints Committee, which will decide if the Editor’s Code of Practice has been broken. If it has, the Committee can insist on corrections and demand that they be placed on a particular page.
4) What is Perch's view of newspaper ownership?
''Ultimately if people wanted to, they could buy The Guardian or The Mirror and just ignore The Sun. But they don’t, they buy The Sun! Rupert Murdoch is as entitled to his say as you or I. There are a million different voices online but everyone chooses to listen to the views in print – The Daily Mail’s website is far far bigger than anybody else’s little blog or point of view.''
5) Do you agree with his view that broadcast news should have less regulation so that TV channels can support particular political parties or people?
Some people think letting TV channels support political parties openly could make things clearer for them while others worry it might turn the news into ads for those politicians and make it more dishonest.
Task Two: Newspaper regulation exam question
Write an answer on your blog answering the following exam question:
What are the arguments for and against statutory regulation of the newspaper industry? [20 marks]
Aim to write an answer of around 400-500 words featuring at least three detailed paragraphs. Make sure you cover both sides of the debate. This topic could well be our 20-mark essay at the end of Paper 1, Section B so it's great preparation for the summer exams.
Statutory regulation is having rules and regulations for newspapers that are set by the government. It ensures that they follow specific guidelines such as reporting fairly, avoiding harm etc.
One argument for statutory regulation is that is will ensue that no misinformation will be spread. It will make sure that accurate news is being reported and it holds newspapers accountable for their actions. This can then protect certain individuals from having their privacy invaded, an example of this would be the phone hacking scandal from News of the World where they hacked into a girls phone illegally. Statutory regulation is more likely to prevent these type of scandals from happening because of the tighter regulation which will ensure them to legally verify the accuracy of reporting. This reduces the chances of false news being spread to the public.
One argument against it however is that it could limit the press freedom. This means that it may limit the newspapers' ability to report on important topics more freely. Some may argue that having the government regulate newspapers that there is a change they could possibly manipulate regulations to favor certain viewpoints which makes this unfair. It may also limit the publics access to other viewpoints and possibly reduce the vibrancy of public discourse. If there is no press freedom, there wouldn't be any transparency and society may not even be properly informed.
In conclusion, statutory regulation offers certain benefits such as improved accountability and ethical standards but comes with significant risks to press freedom and independence. This could mean that the risks of statutory regulation may be too high especially if is limits press freedom. This may lead to newspapers sticking to voluntary regulation but enhancing it so that there are less errors being made when reporting news.
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