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Legal and ethical Considerations

The interview that will be conducted by our game show treatment will have to follow all the
UKs legislations and law that are enforced by Ofcom. First of I will start with talking about
what Ofcom does, and a bit of background information about them. Ofcom is the
communications regulator in the UK. They regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line
telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
They make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and
are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive.
This is why our program must follow the conventions and laws that Ofcom strongly enforces
and run to do, Apart from regulating TV and radio sectors, their duty is to ensure that highquality programmes are provided to the audience with high-speed broadband, radio and
television services are supplied by a variety of organizations, and to protect people from
having their privacy exposed. OFCOM also covers the accuracy and impartiality of the
programmes, fairness and privacy, and product placement and sponsorship.
There are many legal and ethical issues that need to be taken into considerations to make sure
that the standards set for the programmes are followed and not breached. In order to follow
such standards, I must guarantee that the contents and materials shown in the programme are
suitable, harmless and inoffensive; and the products placed in the programme must be
justified meaning the programme has to be relevant to the motif of the programme. Due to
my programme being aimed at a young audience, from 16-34, in order to make sure that it
follows the codes and standards set by OFCOM, it is important to ensure that they are
protected. For example, I must ensure that my programme is scheduled at an appropriate time
because of the content contained. Since my programme is also aimed at the under 16s, I must
ensure that smoking, the misuse of alcohol, the abuse of drugs, and the use of illegal drugs
are not included in my programme unless they are relevant to what my programme is about.
Even if my programme is justified, I must ensure that such use of illegal drugs, smoking, and
the misuse of alcohol are not supported, encouraged, condoned, or promoted. My programme
must also not condone violence, verbal or physical, and dangerous behaviour after the use of
alcohol as this is seen as promoting violence and dangerous behaviour due to alcohol unless it
is justified. However since my program is based on binge drinking I will put a warning
message before the interview starts stating Alcoholic beverages may be consumed and may
affect the younger viewers, etc.
Furthermore, since my programme features contributors under eighteen, I must make sure
that they are not feeling concerned or in pain or the programme itself must not initiate such
response. Apart from ensuring that harmful and offensive materials and contents are not
featured in the programme, I must guarantee that the products placed in my programme are
not tobacco products or medicines, alcoholic drinks, high fat drinks and food, baby milk, and
salt. However, my programme is editorially justified; hence, I would be able to feature
alcoholic drinks in my programmes. Nevertheless, if alcoholic drinks are featured, I must
ensure that it is not being endorsed and supported or given much attention to the public. I will
make sure that suggestions or allusion s of alcoholic drinks are not referenced, and neither
compliment the product or its taste as this can encourage teenagers. Moreover, the
independence and accuracy of my programme on binge drinking must be taken into
Richard Fashola
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consideration as well. This means that the facts and figures of binge drinking must be
accurate and impartial in order to not misinform or deceive the audience.

There are a few ethical considerations that I would give to a programme regarding teens and
binge drinking. First is to make sure that the programme covers the facts and figures of binge
drinking as also the effects of binge drinking. As this will educate them on the dangers of
excessive drinking and the harm it would cause their body on a long and short term. Second
is to ensure that a binge drinking programme is discouraging and putting off more teenagers
from drinking rather than condoning, promoting or encouraging teenagers to drink
excessively. Finally, the body language of the presenters must indicate their unwillingness
and desire to prevent teenagers from excessively drinking alcohol.

Richard Fashola
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