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BROADCASTERS CHALLENGED OVER CHILDREN'S ACCESS TO SEX AND VIOLENCE
Mediawatch UK, the pressure group, will highlight the lack of effective parental controls on BBC iPlayer, Channel 4's 4oD and other online services.

The main broadcasters' websites allow parents to set up a password which is needed to watch adult content. However, Mediawatch says this 'opt-out' system should be replaced with one where people have to actively opt in to see adult content, as the majority of parents never view the websites.

Vivienne Pattison, the new director of Mediawatch UK said this would be a simple change which would ensure children are properly protected.  Miss Pattison accused broadcasters of paying "lip-service" to the need to protect children.

She said: "The technology has moved ahead of the regulation and that's the problem.  Ofcom's most recent research found that fewer than a third of parents use parental controls or are confident about how to use them. And often it's children of parents who cannot or will not do something about it who are the ones you are most concerned about."

Miss Pattison said programmes containing sex and violence should be restricted automatically, with all viewers having to set up a password to access them."

Mediawatch UK has also questioned the legality of online television services in the light of a new law which comes into force this week.  The Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Regulations 2009, which take effect on December 19, require that under-18s should not be able to "normally see or hear" material which "might seriously impair [their] physical, mental or moral development".

Miss Pattison said: "It very clearly says children should be protected from undesirable material, which currently I do not think they are."

Ofcom is preparing to announce what practical changes broadcasters will need to make to comply with the new rules, but a source at the regulator said the legislation was unlikely "to make much difference to the main players".  Broadcasters are resistant to the idea of imposing an initial block on adult programmes, saying it would represent a "commercial barrier" and would be a "nanny-state" measure.
The Sunday Telegraph 12/12/2009
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AUTUMN 2009 NEWSLETTER

MEDIAWATCH-UK RESPONDS TO OFCOM'S REVIEW OF ALL IMPORTANT CODE
In response to Ofcom's review of the Broadcasting Code that has just concluded, mediawatch-uk has called for some serious rethinking about how the Code is currently drafted and we remain critical of the limited scope of this review. 

We said:

"The Code, as it is currently drafted, reflects the 'light touch' approach to regulation advocated some years ago by the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Rt Hon Chris Smith MP. 

In practice this 'light touch' approach has done nothing to improve overall standards of broadcast content. 

"Indeed, mediawatch-uk would argue that in some respects standards are now very much worse because of the ill-defined Code and the way broadcasters have been able to interpret it in their own interests.  Far too much emphasis has been placed on ‘freedom of expression' with little or no emphasis on the corresponding responsibilities that should flow from these freedoms. 

"If the purpose of this consultation is to clarify the Code, phrases like 'the degree of harm or offence' really must be explained.  In an important Code such as this, such ambiguous phrases can mean what anyone wants them to mean! 

It is a great pity that clarification is not also being made with regard to the rights of audiences. 

It is not enough to guarantee 'freedom of expression' for broadcasters, and their so-called "right to offend", which contradicts the intention of the Communications Act 2003 on 'offensive and harmful material' without also guaranteeing the rights of audiences.  Whilst we recognise that these rights are 'at times competing' surely the first priority for a regulator is to safeguard the rights of audiences. 

"With regard to 'rules relating to offensive language' it is evident that the existing rules simply do not work.  It is not enough to say that 'the most offensive language must not be broadcast before the watershed' if there is no definition of 'the most offensive language'. 

Ofcom's own research published in the Communications Market reports has established that the majority of people believe there is too much swearing on TV.  The present Code does not reflect this public concern and is so poorly defined that few people have any confidence that this part of the Code is of any real significance.' 
We also called for clarification of the Code on the showing of violence and due impartiality.
mediawatch-uk news release 7/9/2009
Read full submission here

IF YOU FIND ANYTHING ON TV HARMFUL OR OFFENSIVE, TELL OFCOM AT: contact@ofcom.org.uk    On Line Complaints Form here

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mediawatch-uk RESPONSE TO THE PROPOSED TV ADVERTISING CODE
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) launched a public consultation on the content of their Codes.  The consultation closed at 5.00 pm on Friday 19 June 2009
mediawatch-uk response here

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