Regulatory Bodies 

About Ofcom

Ofcom is a regulatory body that covers all of the shows in TV and radio, it makes sure that all of the shows that are airing keep to the codes that they enforce to make sure that it doesn't break any rules. This is to ensure that the general public do not have any issues with what's being aired. The code specifically for broadcasting has 10 different sections however the ones in specific I'm going to focus on are:

Section 1: Protecting the under eighteens

Section one is a section that is specifically aimed toward the protection and consideration of minors who are under 18. This is a very important code for Ofcom as it is to make sure that minors don't see any content that would be generally understood to only be for people are who 18 years old and above. How i would have to consider this into my show is to make sure that all of the content in my show are suitable for people who are under 18. While my show does tackle topics such as suicide, I will not go into gruelling detail as to avoid any issues as the target audience I have identified will be mostly minors.

Section 2: Harm and offense

As we look into section 2, it states that the measures taken to ensure that all members of the public are protected from any harmful content is adequate. This would be important for Ofcom as their goal is to protect the audiences that are watching these shows and by allowing content that could potentially harm the audience then that would go against their aims. How I would consider this into my show is by making sure that all of the topics discussed in the show are suitable for all audiences and do not relay a message of general harm for the audience, this is to ensure that all people watching are kept safe and do not cause harm to themselves or anyone else.

Section Three: Crime, disorder, hatred and abuse

This section specifically tackles any content that is likely to include any form of crime or abuse, we can see that this is important to Ofcom as promoting this type of content to audiences may reflect a negative message to the audience as it would leave the audience thinking that they are allowed to replicate what is being shown in the show. How I would tackle this specifically  to ensure that the meaning of the show is how to handle cyber security and not anything else is to make sure that anything that may be harmful is only mentioned briefly and not made into the overall narrative of the show, with the end narrative being cyber security.

Section 4: Religion

When looking into this section we can see that it specifically targets the responsibility of broadcasters with giving respect to the content of religious programmes. This is important to Ofcom as portraying any specific belief in a negative light may cause offense to that demographic and therefore it would reflect negatively on the show and get a large amount of complaints. A way to ensure that my show abides by this section is that if any mention of a religion is needed then it is to be informative for the audience.

 

Section 10: Commercial communications on Radio

Finally, when looking into this section we are able to see that it is specifically talking about radio broadcasting only and it is to ensure that the transparency of commercial communications as a means to secure consumer protection. This is important to Ofcom as it highlights and underlines the general protection of its general audience, while similar to section 2 in its aim to protect its audience, section 10 aims to be more general so that if anything is deemed to be harmful to the audience such as any underlying messages that could be taken. In order to consider this i will make sure that there is physically nothing that can be taken from the show I produce that could cause any harm to the consumers that are listening to my radio show.