Media industries: regulation (Livingstone and Lunt). The role of regulators (Ofcom, IPSO, the BBFC, the ASA), the tension between protecting citizens and serving consumer choice and freedom of expression, and the difficulty of regulating globalised, converged media.

What this dot point is asking

OCR names Livingstone and Lunt as the theorists for regulation. Their argument is that regulators face a permanent tension between protecting citizens and serving consumers, and that convergence and globalisation make regulation increasingly hard. You need the UK regulators, the tension, and the ability to apply and evaluate this on set products and forms.

The answer

The UK regulators

Knowing which regulator covers which form lets you apply regulation precisely to a set product (a radio brand is regulated by Ofcom; an advert by the ASA).

The tension: protecting citizens versus serving consumers

Livingstone and Lunt argue regulation involves a fundamental tension between two aims:

• Protecting citizens: shielding audiences, especially children and vulnerable groups, from harm, offence and misinformation, and upholding standards in the public interest.
• Serving consumers: supporting choice, competition and freedom of expression, letting the media operate freely and audiences access what they want.

These often pull in opposite directions: stronger protection can mean less freedom and choice; more freedom can mean weaker protection. Regulators must constantly balance them, and any decision can be criticised from one side or the other.

The difficulty of regulating converged, global media

Livingstone and Lunt argue the balance has become harder to strike because of globalised, converged and online media:

• Digital and global platforms cross national jurisdictions, so a UK regulator may have limited reach.
• Convergence blurs forms (a newspaper website is press and broadcast at once), complicating who regulates what.
• Audiences create and share their own content, so the old model of regulating a few professional producers no longer fits.

This is why regulation often works well for traditional forms but struggles online.

Examples in context

A strong answer names the right regulator, applies the protection-versus-freedom tension to set-product detail, and judges how far regulation can still protect audiences in a converged, global landscape.

Try this

Q1. Explain the tension Livingstone and Lunt identify in media regulation. [5 marks]

• What the marker wants. Balancing protection of citizens (from harm and offence) against serving consumers (choice and freedom of expression), with the two aims in conflict (AO1).

Q2. Explain why regulating converged and global media is difficult, using Livingstone and Lunt. [10 marks]

• Cue. Apply the theory to a form or set product, showing how online and global platforms cross jurisdictions and how convergence and user content complicate regulation (AO2).