Coursework use only.

1. TASK 1: PRESENTING A
DEBATE

2. Against
For PUBLIC SERVICE
BROADCASTING
 Includes radio, television and electronic media.
 Receives funding including license fees, individual contributions, commercial and public financing.
 May be nationally or locally operated
 Commercial broadcasting now also exists in most countries
 There is a maximum amount on items being repeating.
 ITV are trying to get away from PSB.
 Ofcom- office of communications
 Wide range powers across the television, radio, telecom and postal sectors.
 Lord Reith- First director.
 „ Inform, educate and entertain‟

3. DEFINITIONS
 Cross-media ownership:
Cross media ownership is where a person or a company have ownership of more
than one type of media (TV, Radio, Newspapers).
The federal communications commission does not generally allow cross media
ownership.
 Diversification
Diversification is based on the disputes or the pluralism, diversity and the variety in
the media.

4.  Digital broadcasting
Using digital data rather than waveforms to carry a broadcasting over tvor radio
bands.
 Satellite broadcasting
Refers to satellite TV systems in which the subscribers receive direct
broadcasting

5. REALITY TELEVISION
DEFINITION
 Multinationals
An enterprise that produces or delivers services in more than one country
 Conglomerates
A combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different
businesses

6. Year Acquired Bought Price Motivation
firm
1994 Viacom Paramount $8 Billion Conglomerion
across publishing
film broadcasting
ACQUIRED FIRM cable and theme
parks
1994 Viacom Blockbuster $8.5 Billion Distribution control
1995 Disney ABC $19 Billion Vertical integration
and control of
content creation
1995 Time warner Turner $7.4 Billion Vertical integration
and synergy
broadcasting
1995 Seagram MCA $5.7 Billion General
conglomerate moves
into diversified
media
1995 Westinghouse CBS $5.4 Billion General
conglomerate moves
into broadcasting
1999 Carlton United $8.0 Billion Merger of major eu
media groups
1998 Seagram Polygram $10.6 Billion Recording market
share
1999 Viacom CBS $22 Billion Media conglomerate
consolidates
broadcasting power

7. Year Acquired Bought Price Motivation
firm
2000 Vivendi Seagram $35 billion Very diversified
ACQUIRED FIRM CONT. leisure conglomerate
diversifies further
1998 AT&T TCI $48 billion Telecom and media
convergence
2000 AOL Time warner $128 billion Internet service
provider merges
with media
conglomerate
2002 Comcast AT&T $47.5 billion Cable company
expands via
acquisition
2003 NBC Vivendi $5.5 billion Merger between 2
media giants
2003 Sony BMG Music arms of two
majors merge
2004-5 Sony MGM $4.9 billion Massive acquisition
of back catalogue
2006 Disney Pixar $7.4 billion Studio buys
production
company with
strong affliations

8. THE BIG SEVEN
COMPANY REVENUE
Time warner 43.7
Walt Disney 31.9
Viacom 27
News corporation 23.9
Bertelsmann 21.6
Sony 16.0
NBC 14.7

9. V E R T I C A L A N D H O R I Z O N TA L
I N T E G R AT I O N
 Horizontal integration is when a large company buy the rights to another
company, for example Cadburys bought up Green and black chocolate.
 They buy up other companies involved in different stages of the process of
production and circulation. A company might buy „downstream‟, such as when a
company involved in making films buys a DVD distributor or „upstream‟ , which is
when a company involved in distribution or transmission (such as a cable television
company) buys a programme maker.

10. PRODUCT DIVERSITY AND
PROFITABILITY
 Media industries are risky business. Garnham says “risk derives from
the fact that audiences use cultural commodities in highly volatile and
unpredictable ways, often in order to express that they are different from
each other”
 My personal habits is to watch films that are not aimed at my personal
target audience, for example I prefer to watch animated films aimed at
family's such as Madagascar rather than watch films aimed at my target
audience such as Sky fall.

11. BROADCASTING ACT
 This broadcasting act has to some extent been superseded by the Government's White Paper on Communications, because anything taken
from that paper will be turned into a new Act of Parliament. However, this Act began the first steps to deregulation in British Broadcasting and
reversed restrictions imposed on ownership of ITV franchises. The main points of the 1990 Act were:
 This act required all ITV franchises to be put up for sale and to be awarded partly on financial grounds.
 New ITV regional franchises mandated to give 25% of their production to independent producers.
 ITV network centre established to commission programmes from the franchise holders on to the national ITV network.
 Independent Television Commission set up to regulate all TV services in the UK, with the exception of the BBC.
 For first time Channel4 to sell own advertising and ITV monopoly on advertising sales was lost.
 Channel 5 was last conventional terrestrial TV channel to set up in 1997 before digital explosion, to provide same strand of programming at
the same time every day, each week.
 TV licence is a tax on all owners of a TV set. Fee set by government and to be renewed by an Act of Parliament.
 Corporation's right to be funded by licence fee renewed, but situation insecure.
 BBC set up internal market as Producer Choice, where producers must also be managers and shop around for cheapest facilities rather than
accept those providing by corporation itself.
 Discusses different ways of paying for TV viewing as things are changing, ie. pay per view and subscription.

12. HUMANS RIGHT ACT
 Act of parliament
• “give further effect”
 It means you can defend your rights in the uk courts and you must treat
everyone equally with fairness, dignity and respect.
 Anyone in England and wales can use the human rights act even if they are a
child, a prisoner and are not a British citizen.
 Judges must read and give effect to legislation in a way which is compatible
rights
 Unlawful for a public authority to act in a way that is incompatible

13. HUMANS RIGHT ACT
 Human right acts protect
• The right to life
• Investigates death
• No torture or inhuman treatment
• Protection against slavery
• Liberty and freedom
• Right to fair trail and no punishment without law
• Innocent until proven guilty.
• Respects privacy, family lives and right to marry.
• Freedom of thought, religion and belief.
• Free speech and peaceful protest.
• No discrimination; everyone is equal
• Protection of property and a right to an education and election.

14. LIBEL LAW
 There are two versions of defamation, libel and slander. Libel is
when the defamation is written down (including email, bulletin boards
and websites), and slander is when the incident relates to words
spoken. In the UK, if someone thinks that what you wrote about
them is either defamatory or damaging, the onus will be entirely on
you to prove that your comments are true in court.

15. LIBEL LAW
 For example, if you said Peter Sutcliffe had never paid his TV licence in his life that would
not be defamatory - or it is very unlikely to be. However, if you said the same about TV boss
Greg Dyke that would be. Why? Because Peter Sutcliffe's reputation will not be damaged by the
TV licence revelation (he is after all a mass murderer). Of course, his lawyers would still be free
to bring the case to court, but it is very unlikely they would succeed. Greg Dyke, on the other
hand, runs the BBC, so to say he wilfully doesn't pay his TV licence could have a seriously
detrimental effect on his career. He could be fired or his reputation damaged (note: Dyke has
now left the BBC). It is not for the judge or jury (at the outset) to decide how damaged he is -
they just have to confirm that such accusations are false and damaging. Then the judge and/or
jury decide on monetary damages.

16. OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT
1989
 Secrets 1 – Security and Intelligence
 An offence of disclosing information, documents or other articles relating to security or intelligence.
 Secrets 2 – Defence
 An offence of disclosing information, documents or other articles relating to defence. This section applies only to crown
servants and government contractors.
 Secrets 3 – International relations
 An offence of disclosing information, documents or other articles relating to international relations. This section applies only
to crown servants and government contractors.
 Section 4 - Crime and special investigation powers
 This section relates to disclosure of information which would assist a criminal or the commission of a crime. This section
applies only to crown servants and government contractors.
 Section 5 - Information resulting from unauthorised disclosures or entrusted in confidence
 This section relates to further disclosure of information, documents or other articles protected from disclosure by the
preceding sections of the Act. It allows, for example, the prosecution of newspapers or journalists who publish secret information
leaked to them by a crown servant in contravention of section 3. This section applies to everyone.

17. PRIVACY LAW
 Privacy in English law is a rapidly developing area of English law that considers in what situations an
individual has a legal right to informational privacy, that is to say the protection of personal (or private)
information from misuse or unauthorized disclosure. Privacy law is distinct from those laws such as
trespass or assault that are designed to protect physical privacy. Such laws are generally considered as part
of criminal law or the law of tort. Historically, English common law has recognized no general right or
tort of privacy, and was offered only limited protection through the doctrine of breach of confidence
and a "piecemeal" collection of related legislation on topics like harassment and data protection. The
introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated into English law the European Convention on
Human Rights. Article 8.1 of the ECHR provided an explicit right to respect for a private life for the
first time within English law. The Convention also requires the judiciary to "have regard" to the
Convention in developing the common law.

18. THE FILMS ACT 1985
 The Act also abolished the Cinematograph Film Council and dissolved the National Film Finance
Corporation, transferring its assets to British Screen Finance Limited.
 The Act repealed the Films Acts 1960-1980 and also repealed certain provisions of the Finance Acts 1982
and 1984 and substituted new provisions for determining whether or not a film was 'British' film eligible for capital
allowances.
 Under the Finance Acts 1997 (No 2), 1992 (No2) and 1990, these provisions have been further amended to
relax the prohibition on using a foreign studio.

 Finding a distinct cultural product.
 The Eady Levy was a tax on box office receipts, this pumped excess money back into the United Kingdoms
Film Industry which made it cheaper to produce films. The film act abolished this
 American company's were claiming there film was British and abused the tax, brought in to protect the
British industry

19. THE RACE RELATIONS ACT
1976
 Items that are covered include discrimination on the grounds of
race, colour, nationality, ethnic and national origin in the fields of employment, the provision of
goods and services, education and public functions.
 The Act also established the Commission for Racial Equality with a view to review the
legislation, which was put in place to make sure the Act rules were followed.
 The Act incorporates the earlier Race Relations Act 1965 and Race Relations Act 1968 and
was later amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, notably including a statutory
duty on public bodies to promote race equality, and to demonstrate that procedures to prevent
race discrimination are effective.
 The Act was repealed by the Equality Act 2010, which supersedes and consolidates previous
discrimination law in the UK.

20. THE RACE RELATIONS ACT
1976
 In 1976, a far tougher Act was passed that made discrimination unlawful in
employment, training, education, and the provision of goods and services. It extended
discrimination to include victimisation, and replaced the R.R.B. and the C.R.E. with the
Commission for Racial Equality, a stronger body with more powers to prosecute.
 Since 1976, further amendments have been made the Act. The police were specifically
excluded from the provisions of the 1968 Act, on the grounds that they had their own
disciplinary codes. Racism within the police force was not fully recognised until the 1990s
after Black teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered. The subsequent enquiry into the
police‟s handling of the case found there was „institutional racism‟ within the
Metropolitan Police.

21. THE TERM
 The term „Pornography‟ is not generally used in UK law. Therefore in the UK
this is called „The Obscene Publications Act 1959‟ This describes an obscene item
as one „tending to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all
relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the material embodied in it‟. This makes
it an offence to publish obscene material or to have such material in your possession
with the intention of publishing it. It is not an offence if it is for one‟s pleasure.
 The Obscene Publications Act has many similarities to the Protection of
Children Act

22. VIDEO RECORDINGS ACT
1984
 The Video Recordings Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that
was passed in 1984
 It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must
carry a classification that has been agreed upon by an authority designated by the Home Office
 The British Board of Film Classification, which had been instrumental in the certification of
motion pictures since 1912, was designated as the classifying authority in 1985
 The British Board of Film Classification was designated as the classifying authority in 1985
 Works are classified by the BBFC under an age-rated system, it is an offence under the Act
to supply video works to individuals who are (or appear to be) under the age of the classification
designated.

23. VIDEO RECORDINGS ACT
1984
 Works that are refused classification cannot, under the Act, be legally sold or supplied to anyone of any age
unless it is educational, or to do with a sport, religion or music and does not depict violence, sex or incite a
criminal offence. The BBFC may also require cuts to be made, either to receive a certain age rating, or to be
allowed a classification at all.
 In August 2009 it was discovered that the Act was unenforceable as the European Commission was not
notified about it. Until this situation was rectified, it was legal to sell and supply unclassified videos and computer
games, although many retailers had agreed to observe the regulations voluntarily. Then pending prosecutions
under the Act were abandoned, but the government has claimed that past convictions cannot be challenged. In
December 2009 the government introduced new legislation, the Video Recordings Act 2010,[4] which repealed and
immediately revived the Video Recordings Act 1984, after the required notification was provided to the European
Commission in October 2009. This made the legislation enforceable once again, as well as allowing it to be
amended by the Digital Economy Act 2010.

24. LICENSING ACT 2003 AND
LA
 They licensing act 2003 and LA have been prepared by the Department for Culture,
Media and Sport in order to assist the reader of the Act. In April 2000 the Government
published an act on reforming alcohol and entertainment licensing set out proposals for
modernizing and integrating the alcohol, public entertainment, theatre, cinema, night café
and late night refreshment house licensing schemes in both England and Wales. Used to
reduce crime and disorder, to encourage tourism, to reduce alcohol misuse; and to
encourage self-sufficient rural communities. Act of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom. In turn, "regulated entertainment" is defined as: A performance of a play,
exhibition of a film, sporting event, live music event, playing of music or performance of
dance.

25. LICENSING ACT 2003 AND
LA
 The Act has four licensing outcomes which must be taken into account when a local
authority carries out functions. They are, preventing crime and disorder; public safety; public
nuisance; protection of children from harm; and in Scotland there is a fifth licensing agree which
is protecting and improvement of public health
 The new licences don't have to be renewed regularly; it is important that in the Act, at any
time, they can be called in for a review if residents or a business nearby make a valid request. If
this happens the matter will go before a Licensing Sub-Committee which can vary, suspend or
revoke the licence. This is an important change to the old licensing law, which made it much
more difficult for residents to force a review of a licence.
 Licensees must now understand that just because they have been given a licence under the
new Act, any permission can be removed or varied. As licensing authority, the Council will be
working closely with the police to ensure that the Act is enforced fairly and firmly with everyone.

26. FILMS ACT 1985
 The film act gives the owner of any form of film or video the opportunity to declare ownership over their film,
which they can they have copyrighted and protected via the legal system. Without being able to declare ownership,
people would not be able to protect their property.
 “The Films Act (CAP. 107) governs the possession, importation, making, distribution and exhibition of films, videos
and video games.
 The Films Act defines "film" as meaning:
 · any cinematograph film
 · any video recording, including a video recording that is designed for use wholly or principally as a game.
 · any other material record or thing on which is recorded or stored for immediate or future retrieval any information
that, by the use of any computer or electronic device, is capable of being reproduced or displayed as wholly or partly visual
moving pictures, and includes any part of a film, and any copy or part of a copy of the whole or any part of a film”
 This law also protects video game creators and allows them to protect their product under the same act; this is
because it’s still a video based product to be distributed to the masses for a price.