Legal and Ethical Constraints in the Media Industry

All work in the media industry will be subjected to legal and ethical constraints and everyone that works in the media industry has a responsibility to be aware of them so they don't anger anyone or do something ilegal.

Legal Constraints

Legal constraints are legal laws that control the media sector and it's extremely important that you follow these laws or you could be fined and investigated by the police. Legal Constraints are laws that absolutely have to be followed and took into consideration or you can have some harsh consequences.

Ethical Constraints

Ethical Constraints aren't necessary things that you could get arrested for but they are just as important. These constraints mean that you are working within accepted norms of society and you have to behave what is considered in the right way without offending anyone. This is covered by self regulating industry codes and it's up to the producer of whatever media production you're doing to make a proper judgment call.

The laws regarding Legal Constraints are listed below with descriptions and examples of what it's all about.

Broadcasting Act 1990

The Broadcasting Act 1990 is law that was created by the British Parliament and the aim of this law was to recreate and improve the entire structure of British broadcasting and British television in particular.

This particular act has many effects of the media industry.

The effects this had on television:

This act allowed for the creation of the fifth channel to be distributed in the UK, which turned out to be Channel 5 and this caused a growth in multichannel satellite television. This particular act has recieved both praise and criticism especially allowing force of Rupert Murdochs ambitions in Britain. It also allowed the companies holding the ITV franchises to take over other such companies from 1995 which started the beginning of the process which lef to the creation of ITV plc.

The effects this had on radio:

This act allowed for the launch of three Independant National Radio stations, two of them on medium wave using frequencies formly used by the BBC, and the other on FM using frequencies formerly used by the emergency services. This started plans for many more local and regional commerical radio stations, using parts of the FM band which was not previously used for broadcasting. The plans for expanding community radio were only developed in the 2000's.

In the Parliament it caused a series of opposition from most of the Labour Party and some members from the Conservative Party who thought this was a representative of a decline in standards.


Official Secrets Act 1989

The Official Secrets Act 1989 is a legislation that helps ensure the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security.

The effect on radio and television:

This doesn't have a major effect on television and radio but if you talk about stuff that you are under strict instructions not to discuss then police could be brought in to investigate.

Obscene Publications Act 1959

Obscene Publications is a legislation that makes sure to strengthen the law concerning pornography.

The effect this has on radio:

This means they can't play obvious pornographic sounds on family radio so it disrupts the listeners.

The effect this has on television:

This stops the use from showing pornographic scenes on television before a certain time. Channels usually make sure they put out warnings to make sure the viewers are aware of what they might be seeing.

Race Relations Act 1976

The race relations act is a legislation that makes sure we respect that discrimination on any racial grounds is wrong.

The effect this has on radio and television:

They need to make sure that they don't discrimintate against any type of race or religion. Radio needs to be very careful about the people they hire as most programs will be live and if any racial accusations are caused they have no way of stopping it. Television has been recently making television shows which have a person of dark skin tone as the main character which shows a more fair approach to this law. An example of this is BBC three's teenage program 'Some Girls' which has a black main girl character and one of her friends is a Sikh.

Privacy Law

Privacy Law is a law which deals with the use of peoples personal information and making sure they aren't intruded upon. These laws make sure people can't have their information wrongly used without permission.

 The effect this has on radio:

This means that they can't tell the listeners peoples full names or any private details they don't want revealed. For example if a viewer calls in but they don't want their name to be revealed then they can't say it.

The effect this has on television:

This is also basically the same as radio, they can't use peoples full names without their consent. This also means that if they take footage of someone they need to get that persons permission before they air it on television.

Copyright and Intellectual Property Law

The Copyright law protects things that are owned by a certain person. This makes sure that no one else can take credit for someones work or you can't use something without getting permission first.

The effect this has on radio:

They can't play certain music without getting permission from the people that created it.

The effect this has on television:

They can't play music or show clips without getting permission from the people that created it.

Libel Law

The Libel law is a law which states that someone can't give out false information about someone that could potentially cause them harm. Such as writing a quote that someone said when they didn't actually say that, or portraying someone in a negative way when that wasn't what happened.


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The Ethical Constraints are as listed below with descriptions and examples of what it's about.


Protecting under 18's

This is where they need to protect the privacy of children and they must get the consent of the childs parents before they can air something.


Power to influence the public

This is where they can twist some sounds clips or video clips to make them believe something when it could possibly not be true.


Interviewing vulnerable people or children

This means they should know when and when not to interview people. If they interview a child they need to make sure that they don't twist what the person is saying because they don't know any better.

Intruding on individuals privacy

They need to know their boundries and know when not to disturb a member of the public.


Anything that could cause offence or harm

This means they have to have a good idea of what could cause the viewers or listeners harm. Alot of the time there are warnings if it is something that could cause distress to the viewers.