Unit 9 AO3 Legal & Ethical

Unit 9: AO3- Legal and Ethical Constraints

For this assignment I will be explaining how a Radio station is obliged to meet the requirements of the remit in its licence, the things that the radio station can and cannot change about their format and why. Lastly, I will be giving two different examples of licence breaches. I will be giving you examples of a commercial and community station.

Ofcom is the Licence Regulator for all forms of communication. They regulate: Radio, Television, Post, Internet Service Providers, Telephone and Mobile Network Providers. I will be looking at the way that Ofcom regulate radio.

Legal

All Radio stations that are legal need to be authorised with a licence to broadcast to the public. In order to get a licence, a radio station needs to apply via Ofcom Online and have their Station Format/Remit so that they can be issued with a licence. Some stations aim their content to a certain audience whereas others don’t pick a certain ethnicity.

Once a radio station is issued with a licence, there are boundaries that they cannot cross. Their format is something they have sworn to stick to. The licence was given to them so that they could perform what they said they would in the remit. Changes can be made to a remit/station format if the station can prove that there is actually a demand for the format in question and it’s only a slight different from their previous remit. For example, if a radio station had proven that people in the area are not into the type of music genre that the station offers because the people that did have moved to more suburban areas, they would have more of a chance of getting the permissions to change their remit because it shows that they are trying to appeal to the audience in their area. You will not be allowed to change the format if it will be affecting what the community receive. For example, if a radio station for over 30’s wanted to change to target younger age groups, they wouldn’t be able to get the permission because that means that the over 30’s in that area won’t have a radio station aimed at them. Also, if the station wants to completely change their remit, if allowed, they are also given the option to shut down their current radio station and re-apply for a licence.

An example of a radio station breaching these legal aspects of being within the radio industry would be Bay Radio. This station had taken out most of their speech and DJ’s and used a computerised voice recording and music playlist. This not only went against what they had stated in the station format, they also went against one of the main rules in the radio industry. They cannot host a radio station without a real presenter because of the fact that the person listening will not feel the connection between having a real person.

Ethical

Ethics is what is known as morally right. In most business industries there is always a code of conduct that they must follow as employees. They are the rules put in place by the business that employees must follow for the benefit of others as well as themselves.

Ethical- Behaving in a proper manner that won’t upset alarm or offend listeners.

Protecting under 18’s

When broadcasting the most recent news, presenters cannot go into too much detail when there is someone involved that is under the age of 18. Especially with cases that haven’t been closed. The people involved shouldn’t be mentioned or described in a way that they can be identified. It could jeopardise the case.

Broadcasting violent and dangerous events is also not allowed as it could be encouraging those under the age of 18 to take part in dangerous acts. The radio station also must not mention the after effects of an attack as it can be upsetting for listeners. By naming the after effects it could be giving someone an insight into what happens to a person when using that weapon and they could be planning to hurt someone in that way.

Offensive language is something to take control of on radio because the audience only listen so they won’t miss out the foul language. The songs that have explicit language are already changed into a radio edit that is a clean version. Presenters cannot swear whilst on air but during the time that the station would expect for children not to be listening is could be allowed. Watershed is something that only applies to Television. On radio they can only judge it by when children are less likely to be listening to the radio. An example of the times that children won’t be listening to the radio would be at 10pm.

Since it is practically impossible to have sexual material on the radio, Presenters just need to be careful that they do not broadcast any sounds that could be classed as sexual material.

Radio stations cannot inform listeners of ways to harm themselves. They cannot give any information about how to harm yourself, commit suicide or mention topics that involve self-harm unless it is for the listeners to know that there is a number to call and people to help them if they do self-harm.

Adverts

During the adverts on the radio, if there is a trailer for a film that is meant to have a ‘News style’ voice and sound effects, it needs to sound like it is a trailer and not a real news announcement. It mustn’t sound real to listeners as it could create unnecessary worry and anxiety.

Competitions

When hosting a competition over the radio, they need to be conducted fairly. Winners needed to be picked at random or by using a systematic method. The audience must be notified clearly of the costs to take part whether using mobile or a BT Landline and should be notified when not to call because they can still be charged. Listeners must not be misled; the prize must be as described. The rules for the competition must be available to the audience on the radio station website or from another source.

Crime

Presenters cannot do anything that will encourage listeners to commit a crime. This involves revealing criminal techniques. The station must not jeopardise their licence by saying things that will allow or influence someone to break the law in any way. When broadcasting recent news, they cannot mention anything that will endanger people’s lives. For example, if there was planning to be an attack in London, they couldn’t mention it because it will be letting the people that were planning the attack know that the people are aware.

The radio station cannot pay criminals to come in to the studio and share their story because it them means that the criminal is earning from the offence that he/she had committed. This will then encourage others to commit crime because it is giving off the impression that being a criminal earns you money.

Impartiality

This is based on not having any biased opinions on the radio. This would be from news for example. They have to give the accurate news facts and not mention their opinion on the topic or pick sides.

A politician cannot present on the radio because they might be trying to influence their views onto the listeners. This is equally fair because then it protects all the political parties from losing or gaining supporters.

Privacy

The station cannot gather information or give out information by exploiting people’s lives. They cannot tap into their mobile phones for information or install cameras or recorders at their private property. The technical term for doing this is called Doorstepping. An example of how photographers invaded someone’s privacy would be when a photo of Kate Middleton was snapped topless. She was in an enclosed area in someone’s private property that was surrounded by a large amount of land. The Photographer must have used a long lensed camera to take a picture of her so close up. The technical term for this is Surreptitious Filming/Recording.

Suffering and Distress

This means that the station must not mention a person’s name that has been badly injured or killed if the family hasn’t been informed first. This is something that might never happen because it is normally the family that finds out before anyone else. In Some cases, there might be a time where the family cannot be contacted and other sources find out.

Russell Brand & Jonathan Ross Breach

Here’s an example of a show on BBC Radio 2 that breached the broadcasting code. Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross were meant to call up Andrew Sachs for interview about a show he has recently been on but when they had called up his house, it went to answerphone. The two both began saying things like “You were meant to be ready for the call… We can interview him via his answerphone” Jonathan Ross then said from the background “He ****** your granddaughter!” After this message, Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand kept on calling and leaving ‘sorry’ messages that ended up escalating into another offensive comment.

The main problems about this show were the fact that:

·      There was no consent from Andrew Sachs to put this show on air.

·      No senior manager listened to the pre-recorded programme.

·      Compliance forms were not signed claiming that the show abided to Ofcom Codes.

·      There was conflict of interest because Russell Brand’s Manager was the Presenter of the show so he couldn’t actually be the one to tell him off

Specifically, Ofcom found the following rules of the Code were breached: Rule 2.1 (generally accepted standards must be applied programmes); Rule 2.3 (offensive material must be justified by the context); and Rule 8.1 (the ’standard’ requiring adequate protection for members of the public from unwarranted infringements of privacy).

The outcome of this defiance was a £70,000 fine and a £80,000 fine to the BBC for breaching the 3 rules of the Code. The BBC then assured Ofcom of their improvements towards compliance.