Legal and Ethical Issues in Radio
Copyright
Copyright laws in radio are similar to that in television and film, but mainly focused on music and audio. If a song or sound is copyrighted or owned by the artist or label, the broadcaster must have the creators permission to use it. In some cases royalties will be paid to the artist in order to use their music, however, there are royalty free sounds and songs on the internet that can also be used.
The best way to avoid copyright would be creating your own jingles and sounds, and always ask beforehand if someone else's music can be used. I will be doing this for my advertisement and radio show where possible or would do so if I was making a professional production.
Defamation (Libel and Slander)
Defamation is the act of spreading untrue, misinformative or harmful messages towards a specific person or group of people. If it is written down in paper form media, such as book or newspaper, it is called libel, and if it's target towards a certain person, such as a celebrity or public figure, it is called slander.
It is best to avoid creating radio content that purposely or even accidentally offends a person, group of people or brand as it could cause the radio producers to get in trouble with protesters and defenders.
This is very difficult in radio as even praising one brand in specific could cause outroar as it's coming from the presenters mouth, meaning it's fully theirs's, and the production company's, opinion.
Regulators
The common regulator for UK radio broadcasting is Ofcom, who monitor all media's of broadcasting, including TV and On-Demand. They make sure to keep multiple types of media and technology safe and check that everyone is satisfied with what's being produced.
In radio terms, this business makes sure broadcasters are following copyright laws, not posting slanderous or inappropriate content and managing popular radio channels such as Hallam FM and BBC.
Examples of their codes for radio include:
- Section 2 - Harm and Offence
- Section 3 - Crime, disorder, hatred and abuse
- Section 4 - Religion
- Section 5 - Due impartiality and due accuracy (news and information broadcasting)
- Section 6 - Elections and referendums
- Section 7 - Fairness
- Section 8 - Privacy
- Section 10 - Commercial communications on radio (advertising and promotion)
These can tie into ethics as even with these codes put in place, it's still basic human morality to respect and follow these rules.
- Compliance
- Misleading advertising
- Harm and offence
- Child safety/endangerment
- Privacy
- Political and controversial matters
- Environmental claims
- Weight control
+ many more sections and details about them in link below:
Ethical
Ethical issues in radio are similar to that of other sound and visual based media and should be greatly considered in order to avoid any controversy or public outbreak.
Racism and defamation is a large ethical issue as it can have a big impact on how the listeners act and treat others, as well as generally upsetting. A platform must not be used to discriminate others due to their ethnicity or religion. This applies for other types of verbal harassment such as homophobia, sexism, transphobia, sexual insults and any other types of harassment and hate speech which is unacceptable.
Politics are also a major ethical issue, especially when it comes to radio, as it can lead to biasedness, misinterpretation and influence. It would be required for a radio producer and presenter to be neutral when presenting any topics that include politics or political opinions.
Radio competitions are also heavily monitored and regulated as to prevent any cheating or winners being faked, as it has occurred in the past. Ofcom and the BBC are very restrictive about their competitions, with very clear rules and oversight to follow.
More minor factors of ethics, but still important in radio is taste and decency. Making poor and immature comments, including bad-language, violence, bigotry, lewdness and anarchy, are extremely inappropriate for general radio and will not be permitted or allowed by regulators. Offensive language is not permitted under any circumstances and will be censored or prevented; these guidelines are explicitly detailed and followed in radio and overseen by regulators.
My Radio
My radio advert will do what it can to avoid breaking these radio codes. There are little to no aspects of my presentation that break these laws and ethics and I can prove this by going through each segment and discussing how harmless they are.
Wildlife News Segment
The wildlife segment's content is possibly the most wholesome and harmless part of my radio segment as it simply talks about animal and environmental news from trusted articles and news providers. It is also ethically harmless as there is no harm being done through talking about wildlife as long as the source for the wildlife news doesn't endanger animals or the environment in the process like PETA. The only legal issue this radio segment faces is that this news is not my own and comes from public sources. Therefor, I would need to credit these news articles and providers while discussing what they're about as for it not to count as plagiarism, copyright or theft.
Advert Segment
My advert promotes the website The Psychic Tree, which is an online store which sells products that help with spirituality and meditation such as crystals, candles and soaps. I've checked that the website and team who provide these products aren't controversial and follow work and distribution ethics, as well as generally good people, in which they are. The advertisement in itself also follows ASA and doesn't contain content that is likely to harm or offend anyone. The only issues I may face in my radio advert is copyright when it comes to the music and sounds used, as they are not my own and some might need permission given before use.
Meditation Segment
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