Regulation and censorship
Regulation of television programmes introduces the concept of what is deemed right, wrong, good, bad, safe and harmful. This in turn leads to the question of who has the authority to decide these subjective issues and how far do programme makers deliberately provoke the regulators by pushing back the barriers of taste and decency.
Regulatory procedures were first introduced in the UK in 1981 when the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) was set up, which established a formal complaints procedure. This was in part a result of the campaigning work of Mary Whitehouse, a Midlands teacher, who formed the 'Clean Up Television Campaign' in 1964 to campaign for 'decency in broadcasting' in response to what she saw as an increase in violence and obscenity on television. This campaign became 'The National Viewers' and Listeners' Association' in 1970 and today is called 'Media Watch'.
The Broadcasting Act of 1990 established the Independent Television Commission (ITC) was formed to regulate commercial broadcasting, while the Broadcasting Standards Council was given a statutory role for regulating on taste and decency across all broadcast programmes (including radio and advertisements). The ITC drew up a Programme Code to define what was acceptable broadcasting practice. Ofcom (Office of Communications) is the body set up by the Government, under the 2003 Communications Act, to act as a super-regulator, looking after all broadcasting and Telecommunications media including the internet. Ofcom has redrafted the ITC Programme Code to create the Broadcasting Code which came into effect in July 2005.
The Code creates a framework of rules and principles that all broadcasters are expected to adhere to. As well as protecting the under 18s, the Code allows broadcasters freedom of expression providing that they are consistent with the law. The Code insists that the audience are given sufficient information about the content of a programme if it is likely to contain challenging material. The freedom to broadcast the material is limited to broadcasting times where children are not expected to be watching. In effect, broadcasters generally practise self-censorship by following the guidelines of the Programme Code drawn up by the ITC in the 1990s, and redrafted by Ofcom in 2005. When they breach these guidelines they can be subject to censure by Ofcom.
Whenever regulatory controls are in place the issue of censorship inevitably follows. Although Ofcom does not have the power to censor programmes before they are broadcast, there are several penalties such as fines, or even withdrawal of their licence to broadcast, that can be applied if the Code is breached. As a result programme makers conform to a form of self-censorship, sometimes liaising with the regulator for advice on what is permissible. However, the viewing audience has the right to complain if a programme is deemed offensive.
The Government can also prevent programmes being broadcast by issuing a D notice. This is an instruction to the media not to broadcast material that could undermine national security. These are usually relevant in times of war such as the Falklands War, the Gulf War of 1991 and the current conflict in Iraq.
Those who campaign for freedom of expression are opposed to any attempt by the State to prevent audiences from seeing material. They regard it as an act of repression when the State determines what is acceptable and unacceptable. However, the debate is usually between ideas about freedom of speech and about the need to protect the vulnerable, such as children. It is clear that boundaries of taste and decency have been pushed back over the decades. Nevertheless issues, such as depicting death, explicit sexual imagery, abuse of children and blasphemy, still dominate the debates about censorship.
