Unit 7 Task 2
Unit 7 Task 2
Need to be Aware of
Legal Constraints:
For example a well-known legal constraint act is the Broadcasting Act 1990. It was this act that
also did a lot of work and set up a lot of laws behind the scenes also. The act made it illegal for
newspaper companies to own more than 20% of any television companies. This also applied to
cross-ownership between organisations such as radio stations and TV stations. This was also the
act that introduced Channel 5, which was set up as a channel with had structure meaning that
specific programs could be shown at the same time, on the same day, every week.
Although there are also acts such as the Race regulations act of 1976 states that it is illegal to
treat a person unpleasantly and unfairly based simply on their race, whether this is the colour of
their skin, their ethnic origin, their nationality etc. It helped create race equality and made
Also making positive discrimination illegal also, positive discrimination is when a person may be
given better roles or opportunities simply based on the colour of their skin or their ethnic race.
This act means that it is important for the media to not portray different ethnic groups differently
due to their appearance or race. Whether this be stereotyping or simply actively discriminating.
It can only be allowed in certain circumstances, for example, films may be allowed to portray
these views if they are focusing on a historical topic. This can be seen in Quentin Tarantino’s film
‘Django Unchained’ wherein which he is displayed as a slave due to the time period.
There are also intellectual property laws to take into consideration when the media produces
programs and movies to be shown on Television. These laws help protect music, different forms
of media e.g. Images, videos etc., and any other creative property. These intellectual property
laws include copyright, trade rights and patent laws each of which protecting creative property
with a number of laws. The copyright can help protect property whilst Trademarks help to
protect companies from having content stolen e.g. If a company wished to use the slogan
“I’m loving it” they wouldn’t be able to because McDonald’s would have the rights
Similarly, the media can come under fire from these laws if they use video footage,
photos, pictures, music etc. without the permission from the copyright owners. This means that
they cannot use a company’s slogan or logo without having permission from the company.
Copyright and intellectual property laws can have serious effects on media creators that don’t
follow the guidelines. E.g. Videos may be taken down, shows may be cut from the air, the
company may be fined huge amounts of money and in extreme circumstances, and channels or
media companies may be taken down completely. This is the case of YouTube due to the fact
that YouTube channels will be removed and taken down if they violate copyright regulations
three times.
Ethical Constraints:
There are a number of ethical constraints and rules in the media industry that it is highly important
that members of the sector both understand and know them. These rules and constraints aid in the
prevention of people and viewers taking offence to sensitive content. This involves content based
around the topics of Discrimination, offensive stereotypes, privacy and any other issue of which
aren't enforced by the law. Two of these constraints include:
● Gender can often be a topic which doesn't get much thought by the media when it comes to
restraints. This may involve films or programs portraying women as the cleaners and the
people that cook in the household. However unsurprisingly many people find this insulting
and unpleasant. Gender issues have definitely become less apparent in the modern era of
media, but if you look back not too far in the past it is very noticeable as it was a different
time when people felt differently about these topics.
● Religious Beliefs is certainly a topic that is important to stick to the regulations and
constraints. This is due to it being very easy for the media to unintentionally insult a religion
whether it is Christianity, Buddhism etc. Also insulting a person's religion is deeply
disrespectful to their entire culture of millions of people. This can be difficult for news
broadcasters who are focusing on topics that may include religious extremists who often are
seen and heard about on the news.
Source: https://lmvalentinemedia.wordpress.com/creative-media-sector/ethical-and-legal-
constraints-in-the-media/