FACTUAL PROGRAMME REGULATIONS

GURDEEP SHERI

MEDIA LAW GOVERNING FACTUAL PROGRAMMING

OFCOM

What is it?

How has it been

broken in the

past?

Give example

How will it specifically

affect your work?

Reconstructions When a programme re-enacts a event

that has already happened. All

proceedings must be accurate and

clearly state that the clip is a

reconstruction to avoid misleading the

audience. A great example of where this

is used is Crimewatch.

Iran’s Press TV

reconstructed a wife

committing the murder of

her husband when in

actual fact she was

innocent.

I personally do not have a

reconstruction in my documentary but

I feel for the scene where a student is

waiting for a job response, I will have

to portray it genuinely to not mislead

young people on how they may get a

reply for a job.

Dealing with

Contributors

When involving contributors in your

programme, they should give their

relevant consent. They must not be

deceived into being involved, and their

involvement in the clip must be edited

fairly.

ITV were fined £5.67

million for phone rigging

charges where they would

charge people after lines

were closed for some

reality shows.

All my interviewees must give their full

consent to be involved in my

documentary. I must also make sure

they are edited to be portrayed as

they would feel comfortable to endure

there are no misconceptions.

Potentially Offensive

Material

Material that has the potential to cause

offence e.g. strong language, violence,

sexual violence, explicit sexual portrayal

etc. must always be justifiable by the

context. Commissioning editor is

responsible to ensure relevant warnings

are given to the viewers.

Ofcom charged Channel

4 for not filtering

potentially offensive

remarks which lead to

44,500 complaints to

Ofcom.

I will look to have no offensive

material in my documentary to make it

viable to all age ranges. This way I

feel it can be received by a lot more

people to extend the target market.

Criminality

Programmes must not encourage any

crime or lead to any public disorders.

They must not give a specific

understanding of how certain crime are

conducted as they may influence the

public.

Npower faced £2m fine

after after sending silent

and abandoned calls

expecting customers.

I will not be portraying any crimes

apart from my archive footage of the

student protests. When doing this I

will need to pick footage which does

not show any violent conduct to

ensure the material is still viable to

the younger audience.