M3: Legal and Ethical Issues
M3: Legal and Ethical Issues
In this blog post I will be evaluating the laws I will need to follow when creating a radio show. I will also need to be aware of what is allowed by society and what is ethically allowed to be aired on the radio. I will show my understanding of the regulatory bodies and what laws they enforce.
Legal Issues and Regulatory Bodies
Ofcom (Office of Communications) regulates not just the radio but also TV, video on demand services etc. This organisation ensures that radio content is appropriate for all ages until the 9PM watershed. This law ensures that minors are protected from hearing indecent content on the radio such a swearing, promoting bad behaviours (smoking, gambling) talking about sexual activities... Their laws are in place to protect minors, children under 18. Ofom also states that radio stations must have paid for and have a radio license to operate. This may need to be revalidated every 5 years. If a radio station breaks the rules in place by Ofcom, they could be fined, prosecuted or their radio license could be revoked.
The ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) is the regulatory body. They make sure that adverts are decent and not misleading. We will be producing a Savoy Cinema advertisement for our radio show. Therefore, we need to make sure we do not make any misleading comments such as how much things cost or what movies are on in the cinema. We also cannot include swearing or any inappropriate content (mention of drugs, sex, racism, sexism etc) in our advert. ASA can take down our advertisement, ban the advert, fine us and presecute us if we do not follow their rules.
Copyright is a law that protects an artist's work (music, book, graphics...) from being used without their permission. Radio shows will need to be aware of this if they play music. However, our radio show is going to be a talk show called DonCast Films so we are okay as long as we use royalty free background music.
For music radio stations that want to play an artist's music they will know that PRS for music is the regulatory body that protects music. Music artists earn money when their music is downloaded, peformed, played, streamed or broadcasted. Radio stations must pay royalties to the singer/artist if they use their music on their radio station. PRS for music can take legal action too.
The data protection act is important. This law tells companies, including radio stations, what personal data they can store, how this must be stored and how the information can be used. Radio stations may use cookies on their websites to collect data. Commercial radio stations especially will store personal information. They may need phone numbers, house adresses etc from members of their audience if they are holding competitions and someone wins. It is very important to protect this information and prevent data breaches. If a radio station didn't follow this law, they can be fined depending on how much they earn anually. The general public (if their information has been leaked from improper protection of their data) can also sue the radio station.
Radio stations (such as Capital) may have their own social media, websites etc. So they must not be libel or slander towards anyone. Libel is a written false statement that damages a person's reputation. Slander is a spoken false statement that damages a person's reputation. We will not include slander in our radio show. Victims of libel or slander can sue the radio station for damages, for example a radio station may damage the repuation of a celebrity so the celebrity takes legal action. It is also morally wrong to be libel or slander.
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