Media Regulation : Governance and the Interests of Citizens and Consumers

by Peter Lunt

• ISBN13: 9780857025708
• ISBN10: 0857025708
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-12-22
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

In Media Regulation, two leading scholars of the media examine the challenges of regulation in the global mediated sphere. This book explores the way that regulation affects the relations between government, the media and communications market, civil society, citizens and consumers. Drawing on theories of governance and the public sphere, the book critically analyzes issues at the heart of today's media, from the saturation of advertising to burdens on individuals to control their own media literacy. Lunt and Livingstone incisively lay bare shifts in governance and the new role of the public sphere which implicate self-regulation, the public interest, the role of civil society and the changing risks and opportunities for citizens and consumers. It is essential reading to understand the forces that are reshaping the media landscape.

Author Biography

Peter Lunt is Professor of Media and Communication at the University of Leicester. Sonia Livingstone is Professor of Social Psychology and Head of the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Table of Contents

About the Authors	p. vi
Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. xiv
Media and Communications Regulation and the Public Interest	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Regulation and the Role of the State	p. 4
Regulation, Civil Society and the Public Sphere	p. 6
Market Innovation versus Social Democratic Values	p. 11
Introducing the Case Studies	p. 15
Regulation and the Public Interest	p. 18
From Government to Governance	p. 18
The Theory of Regulation	p. 21
Strategies of Regulation	p. 23
New Labour, Social Democracy and Regulation	p. 26
The European Context	p. 30
The UK Context	p. 33
Regulation and the Public Interest	p. 35
Ofcom's Core Purposes: A Discursive Struggle	p. 41
Media Regulation and the Implied Audience	p. 41
The Communications Act 2003 - In Whose Interest?	p. 43
Ofcom's Remit - Interpreting Its Primary Duties	p. 48
Actions to Further Citizens' and Consumers' Interests	p. 56
Citizen Interests in a Wider Perspective	p. 59
Ofcom as a Regulatory Agency	p. 64
Ofcom's Remit and Rationale	p. 64
From Guiding Principles to Working Practices	p. 67
Core Business: Telecommunications, Spectrum Management and Media Plurality	p. 69
Ofcom as an Institution in the Public Sphere	p. 77
The Content Board and (Communications) Consumer Panel	p. 81
Defining Citizen and Consumer Interests in Practice	p. 82
Public Views of Regulation	p. 86
Conclusion	p. 88
Ofcom's Review of Public Service Television	p. 94
Introduction	p. 94
Public Service Broadcasting in the 1980s and 1990s	p. 96
Ofcom's Remit in Reviewing Public Service Television	p. 99
Ofcom's First Review of Public Service Television	p. 102
A Public Service for All	p. 104
Ofcom's Second Public Service Television Review	p. 107
Ofcom's Consultation on the Second Review	p. 111
Conclusion	p. 113
Media Literacy	p. 117
A New Lease of Life for an Old Policy	p. 117
A Puzzling Task for the New Regulator	p. 120
Definitional Diversity in Europe	p. 123
Media Literacy as a Neoliberal Policy	p. 127
The Politics of Media Literacy	p. 129
From Media Literacy to Digital Participation	p. 131
From Principles to Practice	p. 133
From Individual Skills to Social Capabilities	p. 135
Conclusion	p. 138
Advertising Regulation and Childhood Obesity	p. 143
Introduction	p. 143
Regulating Advertising to Children	p. 145
The Challenges of Evidence-based Policy	p. 147
Regulatory Action and Reaction	p. 152
Regulatory Effectiveness?	p. 154
Reflections on Evidence-based Policy	p. 156
Conclusion	p. 159
Community Radio	p. 163
Introduction	p. 163
The Community Radio Order 2004	p. 165
Regulating Community Radio	p. 168
Evaluating Ofcom's Regulation of Community Radio	p. 169
Conclusion	p. 173
Conclusions	p. 177
A Change of Direction	p. 177
The Power to Make Policy	p. 179
On the Value of an Independent Regulator	p. 182
Conclusions	p. 184
Afterword	p. 194
References	p. 196
Index	p. 213
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