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 LATEST MEDIA NEWS...
TV Show questions TV swearing and C4 Jackson tribute
BUILDING BRITAIN'S DIGITAL FUTURE here
DIGITAL BRITAIN REPORT (pdf) here
MANAGING YOUR MEDIA an Ofcom Guide
SUMMER 2009 NEWSLETTER
Is it time to abolish obscenity legislation?
Take Two: The Guardian debate and comment
Generation Sexting by Penny Marshall
Caught in a web of porn by Kurt Eichenwald
REVIEW OF OFCOM'S BROADCASTING CODE
 Ofcom today launched a review of its Broadcasting Code (the Code) which sets rules for TV and radio stations. The current Code, which has been in force since July 2005, is the rulebook that radio and TV broadcasters must comply with.
It sets out what is acceptable to broadcast and covers such areas as the protection of children, harm and offence, fairness and privacy and commercial references in programmes.
The Main Areas Under Review are:
A range of proposed new rules for commercial radio. These aim to create greater commercial opportunities for radio stations. They could help create a wider range of programming while safeguarding consumer protection and editorial independence.
Proposals to clarify other parts of the Code to help broadcasters avoid compliance failures in the future, particularly in relation to audience competitions and voting, and the broadcast of sexual material.
In Addition:
The consultation also asks whether not-for-profit organisations should be permitted to fund programmes about their own activities or interests. These programmes, called Public Information Programming, would cover subjects in the public interest but could not deal with controversial matters. Currently such programming is not permitted.
The revised Code will also include mandatory changes as a result of new European legislation (the Audio Visual Media Services Directive).
The review of the Code has taken into account recent compliance failings, discussions with stakeholders and audience research. Ofcom will be undertaking further research on public attitudes on the use of language.
Ofcom News release 15/6/2009
Read more... Code Review Consultation Paper Ofcom in the News
.jpg "Image") How to Respond to the Ofcom Broadcasting Review?
mediawatch-uk will produce a response to this consultation, however we would like to urge people to respond personally. Please click on the following link to make your response, which must be submitted by the closing date of 4th September 2009. Responding to the Broadcasting Review.
Three Jailed for Life for Horrific Petrol Murder
.jpg "Image") Two men and a woman were jailed for life yesterday for tying a teenager to a tree, pouring petrol down his throat and setting him alight in a gruesome copycat attack from a horror film.
Simon Everitt, 17, a promising engineering student, was thrown into a car boot and taken to woods near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, where he was killed. The flames burnt through the rope and he was able to stagger a short distance before collapsing and dying. His killers threw him into a ditch and covered him with a thin layer of soil in an attempt to hide the body.
The idea for the murder came from the spoof horror film Severance, which Clarke had watched and remarked, ‘Wouldn't it be wicked if you could actually do that to someone in real life?', Norwich Crown Court was told.
The Times 27/6/2009
Read More
BEN BRADSHAW TO REPLACE ANDY BURNHAM AS CULTURE SECRETARY
 Health minister Ben Bradshaw has been appointed as the new culture secretary, replacing Andy Burnham, in a move that comes at a crucial time for the media industry as the government weighs up crucial decisions about the final Digital Britain report.
Bradshaw, a former BBC journalist and the MP for Exeter, is to take over as secretary for culture, media and sport. Burnham is heading the other way, to become health secretary.
He was one of the many MPs caught up in the Daily Telegraph's expenses exposé, with the newspaper claiming he switched his second home allowance to enable him to pay the full mortgage interest on a more expensive London terraced house he owned jointly with his civil partner.
Bradshaw became the first MP to enter into a civil partnership when he went through a ceremony with Neal Dalgleish, a BBC journalist, in 2006.
MediaGuardian 5/6/09
SWEARING ON TV CAUSING WIDESPREAD OFFENCE
 A new poll published today, 19 May 2009, shows that 73% of people find swearing on TV offensive. The poll, commissioned by mediawatch-uk, was conduced by ComRes who interviewed 1002 GB adults by telephone between 15 and 17 May 2009.
Significantly, the poll also found that 70% believe the regulator, OFCOM, should do more to reduce the amount of swearing on TV. Despite Ofcom's own Communications Market research conducted over recent years, showing that the majority of people believe there is too much swearing on TV, the regulator very rarely upholds public complaints on this issue.
60% of people believe that swearing on TV encourages swearing in daily life and 53% believe that children are not effectively protected from swearing on TV.
.jpg "Image") Speaking today, John Beyer, director of mediawatch-uk, said: "The results of this survey show once again that swearing on TV causes widespread offence and that OFCOM really is not doing enough to allay public concern. We certainly welcome OFCOM's recent criticism of record-breaking programme, Ramsay's Great British Nightmare, but this action is too little too late."
Mr Beyer went on: "Today is also the closing date of our online petition to the Prime Minister which after just 6 months has attracted more than 5,900 signatures. We are hopeful that Gordon Brown, who has expressed personal concern about broadcasting standards, will now directly intervene in this situation and call upon broadcasters and film makers to seriously improve standards of literacy in their media productions."
Aware of the latest BBC survey Mr Beyer disputed the finding that people are "relaxed" about swearing on TV. He said: "It may be true that swearing ‘in context' is tolerable but for most people the main concern is with swearing that is entirely gratuitous and has no dramatic or any other context whatsoever.
"Moreover, the BBC's findings seem to contradict research carried out by the BBC for Panorama in February which found that 55% of people thought there was now too much swearing, while 68% thought language had worsened in the past five years."
Mr Beyer said: "Rather than wasting licence fee payers money on unnecessary surveys, the BBC should be asking itself how swearing in programmes fulfils its Charter obligation to ‘sustain citizenship and civil society'."
Mr Beyer concluded: "The time really has come for broadcasters to act decisively on this matter by strengthening the regulations otherwise they know they risk alienating swathes of viewers. In the Digital Age when broadcasting standards matter more and more to viewers and listeners it really is no good ignoring public feeling against swearing on TV."
mediawatch-uk news release 19/5/2009
More information: Swearing on TV Christiantoday
Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin 133 here
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
IF YOU FIND ANYTHING ON TV HARMFUL OR OFFENSIVE, TELL OFCOM AT: contact@ofcom.org.uk
Latest information on Digital Switchover , Digital Television and Freesat
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