Peter Lunt & Sonia Livingstone 
Media Regulation [EPUB ebook] 
Governance and the Interests of Citizens and Consumers

‘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.

Tabella dei contenuti

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

Circa l’autore

Sonia Livingstone DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAc SS, FRSA, is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Taking a comparative, critical and contextualised approach, her research examines how changing conditions of mediation reshape everyday practices and possibilities for action. She has published 20 books on media audiences, children and young people’s risks and opportunities, media literacy and rights in the digital environment, including “Parenting for a Digital Future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children’s lives” (OUP 2020). Since founding the EC-funded 33 country “EU Kids Online” research network, and Global Kids Online (with UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti), she has advised DCMS, UKCIS, Ofcom, European Commission, European Parliament, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, OECD, ITU and UNICEF. She chaired LSE’s Truth, Trust and Technology Commission and is currently leading the Digital Futures Commission with the 5Rights Foundation. See www.sonialivingstone.net