"An exemplary study of how media regulation works (and, by implication, how it could work better) set within a wider discussion of democratic theory and political values. It will be of interest not only to students and scholars but to people around the world grappling with the same problem: the need to regulate markets, and the difficulty of doing this well."
- James Curran, Goldsmiths, University of London
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.
Peter Lunt and Sonia 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.
Media and Communications Regulation and the Public Interest
Introduction
Regulation and the Role of the State
Regulation, Civil Society and the Public Sphere
Market Innovation versus Social Democratic Values
Introducing the Case Studies
Regulation and the Public Interest
From Government to Governance
The Theory of Regulation
Strategies of Regulation
New Labour, Social Democracy and Regulation
The European Context
The UK Context
Regulation and the Public Interest
Ofcom's Core Purposes: A Discursive Struggle
Media Regulation and the Implied Audience
The Communications Act 2003: In Whose Interest?
Ofcom's Remit: Interpreting Its Primary Duties
Actions to Further Citizens' and Consumers' Interests
Citizen Interests in a Wider Perspective
Ofcom as a Regulatory Agency
Ofcom's Remit and Rationale
From Guiding Principles to Working Practices
Core Business: Telecommunications, Spectrum Management and Media Plurality
Ofcom as an Institution in the Public Sphere
The Content Board and (Communications) Consumer Panel
Defining Citizen and Consumer Interests in Practice
Public Views of Regulation
Conclusion
Ofcom's Review of Public Service Television
Introduction
Public Service Broadcasting in the 1980s and 1990s
Ofcom's Remit in Reviewing Public Service Television
Ofcom's First Review of Public Service Television
A Public Service for All
Ofcom's Second Public Service Television Review
Ofcom's Consultation on the Second Review
Conclusion
Media Literacy
A New Lease of Life for an Old Policy
A Puzzling Task for the New Regulator
Definitional Diversity in Europe
Media Literacy as a Neo-Liberal Policy
The Politics of Media Literacy
From Media Literacy to Digital Participation
From Principles to Practice
From Individual Skills to Social Capabilities
Conclusion
Advertising Regulation and Childhood Obesity
Introduction
Regulating Advertising to Children
The Challenges of Evidence-Based Policy
Regulatory Action and Reaction
Regulatory Effectiveness?
Reflections on Evidence-Based Policy
Conclusion
Community Radio
Introduction
The Community Radio Order 2004
Regulating Community Radio
Evaluating Ofcom's Regulation of Community Radio
Conclusion
Conclusions
A Change of Direction
The Power to Make Policy
On the Value of an Independent Regulator
Conclusions
Afterword
