OFCOM VIX MCKEOWN ROLE AND PURPOSE Ofcom is

OFCOM VIX MCKEOWN

ROLE AND PURPOSE • Ofcom is responsible for the regulation of a wide range of platforms spanning across broadcasting, postal sectors and telecoms in the United Kingdom. It is also the competition authority for these platforms. Its purpose is to ensure that competition is maintained and that the public are not exposed to damaging or indecent material. For example, if a viewer felt offended by something broadcasted on television and wished to make a complaint, OFCOM would have the duty to address that complaint and ensure that the appropriate action is taken to resolve the viewer's concerns.

LEGAL POWERS • Ofcom was launched in 2003 and is a statutory corporation. It is not a part of the government but must abide by the responsibilities it obtained under the Communications Act 2003. It is accountable to parliament and must present annual reports to them to ensure it's duties are correctly enforced. It does not have any legal power over the government.

MEDIA ASPECTS COVERED • They cover multiple communications which can vary between television, radio, broadband, postal services and telephone services. Although not quite everything is handled by them directly, for example broadcast advertising is largely regulated by the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) in co-operation with Ofcom. They only regulate communications in the United Kingdom, which means that despite their influence over services like video on demand, a platform like UK Netflix for example would not be under their regulation as it stems from the Netherlands and is regulated by their laws.

CASE STUDY • Ofcom recently received a flood of complaints over the television program "Love Island" in June 2019. This was over two primary concerns both related to the behaviour of contestants on the show which viewers found inappropriate. This was not the first time for "Love Island" though as more than double the amount of complaints were received by Ofcom the previous year due to treatment of one of their contestants. Ofcom didn't take action in this case and was quoted as saying "viewers are likely to expect emotionally charged scenes". This is due to the nature of the show that Ofcom has already certified as appropriate, despite members of the public who may disagree with Ofcom's actions in this case.

CONTROVERSIES • They recently fined RT News, a Russian funded television channel, £ 200, 000 for not abiding by Ofcom regulations. This was mostly due to the content broadcasted over a short period of time concerning the Salisbury poisonings and the conflict with Syria amongst other issues. Many believe Ofcom was unreasonable in their decision making though, and a spokesperson for RT addressed the issue by saying "while we continue to contest the very legitimacy of the breach decisions themselves, we find the scale of proposed penalty to be particularly inappropriate and disproportionate per Ofcom’s own track record".

HOW THEY IMPACT ON THE PRODUCTION OF A MEDIA PRODUCT • Ofcom's regulations can be very restricting to some but not a matter of concern to others. This all depends on the content presented by the creator of the media product. If one were desiring to address controversial political themes their product may not make it into production or it may be edited to adjust to Ofcom's regulations, or like previously stated with RT they may receive a fine. This can also apply to a media product that may contain themes of offensive material like racism, homophobia, sexism and other forms of discrimination. So Ofcom regulates the risks of a media product that consumers may receive a negative impact from.