Ethical and legal constraints in media - 2nd Feb
- Representation of Gender;
The documentary brings attention to the way that the media effects girls and woman more than the way they are portrayed. Jean Kilbourne, EdD is a film-maker and author and says in the documentary that advertising is based on making people feel anxious and insecure a lot of the time. Men are made to feel anxious about status and power while woman are always being told they are not attractive enough. The way that woman are shown within media have caused young girls to develop low self esteem that can sometimes lead to eating disorders along with boys and men judging and comparing woman against the woman they see in advertisements and films. Another issue raised is that girls are taught from a very young age that their worth is based on looks and no matter what they achieve in life, they will still be judged by how beautiful or in shape they are.
Although there is a need for stereotyping to stop within the media, there have been some serious changes in the last couple of years regarding females and their roles within the media. As the first half of this video shows, there has been multiple television and film releases with strong female leads including 'Frozen' 'Orange is the New Black' and 'Scandal' There have also been other major breakthroughs throughout the media for woman. With more female artists becoming and continuing in being sensations; Lorde, Taylor Swift, Beyonce. And other personalities standing up as feminists; Emma Watson. While the video goes on to explain how these changes have not made enough of an impact, the changes are still happening.
It is often said that males are represented in a much more respected way. Men in the media are represented as sexually dominant, smart and powerful. In a lot of adverts that involve men AND women, the man is likely to be the more dominant one with the woman acting as decoration. If the advert doesn't have a woman in, the man is standing tall and looking powerful.
Like woman, though, men find it hard to live up to the expectations that the media puts on them. Men and woman who appear in adverts and magazines are often photo shopped. This makes it hard for even the models themselves to look the same as in the adverts.
- Representation of religious beliefs; (A case study to consider)
There has been a lot of air time for religious extremists on news programs over the years. With terrorist movements like 9/11, the Boston bombings and now British civilians being taken and killed, the media has to take on the challenge of reporting these terrible incidents while treating each religion as equals. This is especially prevalent on news shows.
The recent events in Paris reguarding Charlie Hebdo put a spotlight on religion in the media. Muslim extremists creating a hostage situation that ended with a shoot out did so because of their strong beliefs in their religion and their need to hit back against the magazine that would publish comedic pictures of Muslim figures. The magazine did target politics and police along with religion.
There is a wide range of Christian TV channels aired in the UK with channels like Open Heaven TV, GOD Channel and Believe TV but there is not as much choice when it comes to other religious channels. There is a channel for Muslims named British Muslim TV and another named the Islam Channel. Some of the channels are obviously very focused on reciting their beliefs although a couple of the channels I have looked at has a very 'Normal' looking schedule with cooking and music shows and events and even morning talk shows.
Although there are a small range of religious channels to chose from, none of them are mainstream channels. This is possibly because there is not a high enough demand for religious channels within mainstream broadcasting.
There was trouble for an Islamic TV Channel in 2012 when a presenter on one of the channels programs stated that they thought it was acceptable for a Muslim to murder another human for disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad while answering questions sent in by viewers. The channel was fined £85,000 by Ofcom for seriously breaching broadcasting codes. Spokespersons for the channel said at the time that the actions of the presenter were completely unexpected and did not reflect the views of the channel as a whole.
- accessibility;
Virgin Media is one of the biggest media companies in the UK at the moment and put giving their customers the best experience possible very high on their list of priorities. To help make sure that everyone can use and enjoy their service equally, the company are using alternative techniques such as the use of Braille, large print and audio documents so that customers with little or no sight can use their services with ease as well as creating a playlist of programs that have been modified with sign language so that people who use TiVo, Virgins television service, have a place where they can go knowing they will find signed programs straight away. The company has also included accessibility features within it's mobile/tablet app. The company also works to raise money and support disabled charities and has recently helped a disabled athlete complete 40 marathons in 40 days. Virgin Media works closely with the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) a non profit company that works towards making digital media more accessible for everyone. As well as Virgin Media the DAC has worked with the likes of Channel 4 and Nationwide and make sure they work to the highest standards possible taking into account all of the latest guidelines. The company uses a testing team made up of people with disabilities, this helps them make sure what they are producing is suitable for everyone.
As YouTube has become more and more popular in recent years, there has been more and more demand for accessible videos. Anyone who puts a video out on YouTube can chose to have closed captions on their videos so that anybody who is hard of hearing is able to enjoy their content. With over 6.5 million subscribers, Tyler Oakley is the perfect person to have made a video explaining why closed caption videos are so important. In this video he explains how closed captioning can bring a community together and make it easier for viewers to consume content. He says in the video he doesn't want his channel to be a place where people feel only a certain type of person can be involved. Videos like this show the importance of accessibility in the media.
- Professional body codes of practise
The BBC knows that the public has to be able to trust the company in it's editing and know that they are not going to be exposed to anything that they would find offencive. This boundary changes from channel to channel. For example, someone who is a regular watcher of the BBC1 might flick over to watch something on Channel4 one day and see something that they were not expecting and might find that it upsets them. This is because the BBC's demographic is different to the type of audience Channel4 attracts. For this reason, the guidelines for the BBC have to be specific to their viewers. The Editorial Integrity section of the guidelines addresses the need for editors to make decisions based on the channels views and values and not if their own. Editing cannot and will not be effected by commercial, political or personal interests.
Language has a lot of power over audiences both young and old. The language that is chosen to put across to these people is very important in the media industry. Advertisers, news producers and even magazine editors chose the type of language and words they are going to use very carefully in order to influence the audiences thoughts and behaviours. Words help audiences to associate what they are hearing to pictures and ideas they have been exposed to. The English vocabulary can carry a number of words that hold the same meaning. Although the over all meaning is the same, the perception of these words might differ very slightly. News reporters understand this and are able to manipulate viewers by using certain words to provoke a reaction. For example, if a couple of teenagers mug an elderly woman of her handbag, reporters are likely to refer to the teenagers as a mob of youths, and will use words like frail and innocent to describe the woman. it is likely that other words such as brutal, violent and horrifying will also be used. This type of language raises a sympathetic response from the audience, who are likely to then associate the words with teenagers they might have seen near where they live who may be unemployed or even homeless.
Linguistics in the media is all just one big word association game and if done right, words can provoke a pre-determined reaction.
- Obscene Publications Act 1959 (and later amendments) (Including Case Study)
The Obscene Publications Act was originally enacted in 1959 but has been revised a few times since then. Within the original enactment there are five sections. These sections comprise of; Test of Obscenity, Prohibition of Publication of Obscene Matter, Powers of Search and Seizure, Defence of Public Good and Citation Commencement and Extent. The amount or names of these sections have not changed but the content within them has.
The obscene publications acts purpose is to prevent the exposure of obscene content. The act aims to protect people, especially those who are vulnerable, children, the elderly etc.
The act states that anybody who distributes, publishes, sells etc. an article that is seen as obscene in a way that could morally challenge or corrupt the observer is liable to face conviction for up to 2 years after the articles publication as long as it isn't proven that the person was unaware of obscenity within the article. A conviction can include a fine and/or a prison sentence of up to 3 years. The punishment depends on the type of conviction.
In any case concerning the Obscene Publications Act, the jury must decided whether or not an article is likely to corrupt or morally challenge anyone that is likely to observe it.
In 2009 an undercover police officer bought DVD's containing, what was deemed to be, obscene images. Although the acts within the DVD's weren't illegal, Michael Peacock, the man who sold the DVD's was charged with six counts under the obscene publication acts. The DVD's were purchased at Peacocks house on London.
In this case, the jury decided that the material within the article was most likely to be seen by a mature audience looking for specific content that was present within the DVD's in question. Even the jury apparently became desensitised to the images within the DVD's after a short amount of time. This went towards proving that Peacock was unworthy of conviction.
This case became a pivotal moment for the obscene publications act with comments made regarding a need to revise the act and maybe even get rid of it all together considering the digital age and how easy it is for people to get hold of images that may be deemed obscene without corruption or a compromise of morality.
Others have said that they believe the act should be tightened and made more clear to avoid cases like this.
- Race Relations Act 1976 (and later amendments) (Including Case Study)
The race relations act was created to banish direct or indirect racial discrimination and/or victimisation within employment, education, training and provision of goods, facilities and services. The act insists that everyone should be treated equally regardless of their race.
The media fall into the facilities and services part of the act. There have been amendments to the original act. One section of the act that has been emended is the Genuine Occupational Qualification (GOQ) section. It used to be that race was classed as a GOQ for some jobs. This applied to acting jobs amongst others. Now any job can require a GOQ as long as there is valid reason for a GOQ. This change is strict and there has to be strong proof that someone of a certain race is required for a specific job to avoid breaching the act.
An advert that was sent out by the BBC in 2008 caused a stir as it seemed to completely disregard the act. Although the act states that favouring any singular racial background when considering job roles classifies as indirect discrimination unless being of a certain race is absolutely vital to the job roll, the advert called for a zany, Oriental or Asian person. The advert also called for a scientific background but said that this was not vital if the person looked right for the job. The advert was sent to the likes of agents, casting directors and talent scouts. One recipient of the advert was shocked to see something like this coming from the BBC stating that the media industry is always so careful not to breach any laws. The job role that was being advertised did not vitally require a specific racial background as it was set to be a show that put a popular twist on science. There were no characters involved and no reason why an Oriental or Asian person would have to be used. Although there was not a conviction in this particular case. A spokesman for the BBC said that they were taking the incident very seriously and opened an enquiry.
The media fall into the facilities and services part of the act. There have been amendments to the original act. One section of the act that has been emended is the Genuine Occupational Qualification (GOQ) section. It used to be that race was classed as a GOQ for some jobs. This applied to acting jobs amongst others. Now any job can require a GOQ as long as there is valid reason for a GOQ. This change is strict and there has to be strong proof that someone of a certain race is required for a specific job to avoid breaching the act.
An advert that was sent out by the BBC in 2008 caused a stir as it seemed to completely disregard the act. Although the act states that favouring any singular racial background when considering job roles classifies as indirect discrimination unless being of a certain race is absolutely vital to the job roll, the advert called for a zany, Oriental or Asian person. The advert also called for a scientific background but said that this was not vital if the person looked right for the job. The advert was sent to the likes of agents, casting directors and talent scouts. One recipient of the advert was shocked to see something like this coming from the BBC stating that the media industry is always so careful not to breach any laws. The job role that was being advertised did not vitally require a specific racial background as it was set to be a show that put a popular twist on science. There were no characters involved and no reason why an Oriental or Asian person would have to be used. Although there was not a conviction in this particular case. A spokesman for the BBC said that they were taking the incident very seriously and opened an enquiry.
- Copyright and intellectual property law (IP);
Intellectual property is a term used for creative works that can be used as a benefit and treated like physical property and protected by law. This can include books, inventions and ideas.
There are four sections of Intellectual Property Rights. These sections are; copyright, trademarks, design rights and patents. Each of these sections have similar effects when protecting intellectual property.
Copyright is the protection of something that has been recorded whether that is a video or sound recording or a piece of text. Copyright is used to help protect IP against plagiarism and infraction.
Trademarks are different to copyright because they are given to non recorded IP such as slogans, names and symbols and are only valid in the country where it originated. However, trademarks are valid throughout the EU and not just one country within it.
Design rights are essentially the copyright or patent of a design. This could be a pattern, colour, shapes etc. used to make up a new design.
Patents are used for inventions. A patent on a product gives the creator the right to manufacture and sell the invention.
Copyright is used most often in the media as it is for the protection of recordings. Once something has been copyrighted, anyone who wishes to re use it must ask the copyright holders permission. Well known YouTubers will often use rights free music in their videos as they are unable to play copyrighted songs as it would class as an infringement. With social media taking off in the last few years, copyright is something that not many people take notice of. People are publishing photos videos and tweets without really knowing who owns them from then on. Other issues with copyright and the social media is the confusion over what does and does not count as infringement. Just because the original creator of something being used is credited does not mean that the copyright is void. It is mandatory to obtain the permission of the copyright holder in order to reuse their work. This kind of confusion can lead to claims made by the copyright owner and if a social media website has not covered itself sufficiently, they could be the ones taking the blame. To avoid this, companies like Pinterest utilise their user agreement to explain that users are responsible for any material they post or re post on the site. The user must agree to this along with other terms of service before they are able to use the sight and by doing so, you are then responsible for any infringement claim that might be made against you. The sight will still be involved in the claim but using the agreement that a user has signed helps keep their toes out of hot water.
While some people use the copyright law to protect their content and material, others are happy to let people use and share their work and adopt it as a kind of publicity technique. The more people that use/post a certain piece of work, the more people are likely to see/hear it. This can be good for the copyright holder in the long run.
http://www.piperpat.com/page/branding-trademarks#.VNM9bmisVWI
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