Media Regulation Theory

Media Regulation Theory

Task 1

"How has technology development made media regulation harder?"

The BBFC is the regulatory body that is responsible for setting the rules about what can and cant be in films. They are the ones that make the film certificates and assign those to different films, as well as they are the ones to ban a film if they do not conform to those rules.

They think regulation of media is hard, first of all its hard to decide what rules there should and shouldn't be, lots of the rules that are in place now in different media industries about protecting audience from harm, there about stopping us from being offended, as well as traumatized. They put in these rules to protect us and in particular to protect children and young people, but those rules also affect adults as well which makes it very difficult because adults often fear that once they are over the age of 18 they should have choice, they should be able to watch what they want as well as play whatever video game they want but sometimes these regulations get in the way of that.

companies who do the regulation of the media have to tread this fine line between protecting the audience and between giving them the choice to watch and consume the products that they want to.

A second problem with the regulation of media is that "technology" has made it harder to do. Back in the day if a person wanted to watch a R18 movie but was younger they would either have to ask their parents or go to the DVD store and hope they don't ask for ID, but nowadays in the 21st century because of technology everyone who is younger than 18 has definitely played and watched a movie they either weren't allowed to or it was a R18 rated movie or video game. Downloading, streaming, piracy, YouTube means people can bypass the controls like age certificates.

Because of Technology the BBC has absolutely no power over regulating films online. Offcom who are the people responsible for regulating the T.V. industry have absolutely no power in regulating streaming sites like Netflix and and amazon prime, so the T.V. programs you might see on the sites could be controversial than any products you might have seen before, but Off com cant do anything about it. You have very little control as a regulatory body over anything online, think about social media, if there was a product on YouTube if there was a film pirated to YouTube or an advert that was suppose too be banned and had been posted on YouTube.

Part 2

• How does the article describe what the censorship process was like in NZ 100 years ago?

Movies made on celluloid packed inside tins alongside physical magazines and books never viewed by the New Zealand public.

The censor would snip out what was considered naughty bits from the magazines. Other times, he would ban books entirely.

Movie scenes thought be distasteful or offensive to the NZ public would be cut out and the movie reel stitched back together.

• In what ways has this changed?

There's no port arrival to define the entrance of film and media onto NZ screens.

A revolving digital landscape has changed the way Kiwis viewed their entertainment, and it's also changed the way censorship defines itself.

New Zealanders are no longer stuck behind a curtain of naivety held up strictly by the chief censor. Instead Kiwis are bombarded by media from the world over, and the chief censor's role, today, is to monitor, research and guide.

• What does the writer of the article mean when they say, "A revolving digital landscape has changed the way Kiwis viewed their entertainment, and it's also changed the way censorship defines itself."

What he means by this is that Technology has come a big thing for everyone as it provides us with lots of information and movies to watch even the movies that have been uncensored. Technology is evolving as it is all around but parts of what the technology brings is uncensored which sparks the entertainment of us as there could be a rating to it but with the technology there is no one to stop us from looking at those rated movies or games.

• Who is the NZ chief censor?

David Shanks is the new NZ chief censor

• What City does the Chief censor reside in and how many people work in his team?

The chief censor resides in Wellington as has a crew of 15 censors in his team including his deputy.

• What other content passes through the hands of the censors and why is it considered a 'dark' side to the job?

Clips, film and photos found on laptops and cameras seized by the police, Department of Internal Affairs or customs are passed on to the censors office for classification. The censors are the only group that can classify a video.

• What are they on the look out for in content that is being assessed?

They're on the look out for sex, horror, crime, cruelty and violence as well as provisions covering highly offensive language and self-harm.

Media that require an outright ban consist of: the sexual exploitation of children, sexual violence or coercion, torture or extreme violence, bestiality, sexual conduct involving the body of a dead person and the use of urine or excrement in association with degrading or sexual conduct.