Media regulation

Everyone who watches listens to or reads the news is reliant on the media on the media, this is something that we have had to do since the start of media, however the government don’t like the freedom of the media as they don’t wish any bad/critical words being spread, but article 19 stops them from controlling or stopping anything the media says, through freedom of speech, however regulations are put in place so that the public interest is preserved.
the media regulation office or OFCOM and Article 19 as it is known have had to reconsider some of their regulations in recent times due to some content that has been aired and complaints that have come in from the public about some programmes on the television and radio as well as news paper articles, such incidents like the Jonathon Ross and Russell Brand fiasco where they rang Andrew Sachs and it was aired on television where they made what some people believed to be inappropriate comments about his granddaughter, it was reviewed and both Jonathan and Russell faced sanctions including the sacking of Russell and the suspension of Jonathan, all this was done in the interest of the public as they believed it not acceptable and believed it in the best interest to take action.
There are 3 main areas when it comes to media regulation Political, Economic and Social and these aspects are key, the political side is all about should the government regulate the media, this would be bad as the government could keep important matters away from the public that may concern them, also it is so the government cannot enhance their position and increase their popularity not allowing opposition parties news in the media. Economically the regulations are put in place so huge companies such as coca-cola for example cannot put huge advertisements on the television or news articles or on radio that would jeopardise the interests for small businesses, if they can’t get their advertisements in the media, if it wasn’t regulated it would mean that the huge international companies would be the only ones in business. Socially it is important media is regulated as people need to know what is going on people need to know what is happening in the world as this may affect their life choices, such as moving abroad for example or even going on holiday, the media plays a huge part of our life, we are surrounded by it constantly and if it wasn’t regulated the government and the media could tell us anything, even if it was true or not!