Media Regulation, Public Interest And the Law

by Feintuck, Mike; Varney, Mike

• ISBN13: 9780748621668
• ISBN10: 0748621660
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-10
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Summary

This substantially revised edition shows how the increased commercialization and privatization of British broadcast media poses a fundamental threat to "the public interest" as pressures of the marketplace transform traditional concepts of public service.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	vii
Abbreviations	ix
1 Regulating the Revolution	1	(39)
1.1 Introduction and Overview	1	(8)
1.2 Communication and Power	9	(11)
1.3 Globalisation and Technological Change	20	(10)
1.4 The Revolution and the Law	30	(10)
2 The Market, Public Service and Regulation	40	(34)
2.1 The Market and Public Service	40	(4)
2.2 The BBC and the Charter Review	44	(10)
2.3 Regulation: Why, How and to What End	54	(20)
3 In Search of the Public Interest	74	(52)
3.1 The Competing Values	74	(13)
3.2 Competition Law and the Public Interest in Media Regulation	87	(14)
3.3 The Seductive Charms of Choice	101	(3)
3.4 Resolving the Tensions between Competing Rationales: The Current State of Play	104	(3)
3.5 Citizenship as the Public Interest?	107	(4)
3.6 The Communications Act 2003 and the 'Public Interest'	111	(6)
3.7 Citizenship, the Public Interest and the Media	117	(9)
4 The Regulatory Framework Before and After the Communications Act 2003	126	(43)
4.1 Introduction	126	(1)
4.2 The Historical Framework for Regulation of Media Ownership	127	(2)
4.3 Newspaper Takeovers and Mergers	129	(6)
4.4 Licensing Commercial Television and Regulating Cross-Media Holdings	135	(10)
4.5 Regulating Digital Terrestrial Television	145	(8)
4.6 The Communications Act 2003 and Ofcom's Early Years	153	(8)
4.7 Carlton and Granada — Towards a Unified ITV	161	(3)
4.8 Same as It Ever Was?	164	(5)
5 Institutional Design and Accountability in UK Media Regulation	169	(32)
5.1 Introduction	169	(1)
5.2 Aspects of Accountability	170	(6)
5.3 Formal Power and Informal Influence	176	(7)
5.4 Complaints and 'Standards' in Broadcasting	183	(8)
5.5 The Press Complaints Commission	191	(4)
5.6 The Advertising Standards Authority	195	(6)
6 Tiers of Regulation	201	(43)
6.1 Introduction	201	(1)
6.2 The Nature of Regulation	202	(9)
6.3 The Agenda in the European Union	211	(24)
6.4 Regulation of the Media in the Nation State	235	(9)
7 Conclusions: Protecting Democratic Values	244	(36)
7.1 The Incoming Tide	244	(13)
7.2 Rising Above the Waves	257	(23)
References	280	(21)
Index	301