U7 LO2 + 3

Task 1
LO2 Ethical and legal constraints in the media sector

Copyright gives the creators of certain types of Media rights to control

how theyre used and distributed; things such as music, books, video and
software can all be covered by copyright law. Copyright is important within the
magazine industry as some images have copyright over them and will therefore
not be appropriate to use in magazines. Copyright protects original works of
authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as
poetry, novels, movies and songs. However copyright does not protect
someones ideas or methods, though it may protect how the methods are
expressed. If the copyright law is broken then the holder of original copyright can
file a civil lawsuit for damages against the violator. A classic example of
copyright infringement is uploading DVD material onto YouTube as this is copying
and re-distributing photos and text. The prosecution varies depending on how
much infringement has taken place and depending on the Country, for example
in the USA infringers can be charged up to $30,000 per infringement but a lot of
cases dont end up going to court and are settled before it gets to this point.
Independent companies may face difficulty when starting up as they will need to
stand out against other magazines meaning they will need to bring something
different to the market to gain a wider audience. It is much harder to get people
to pick up a new magazine that they havent read instead of going to get their
normal magazine such as Company or Glamour.
My equivalent sector is the Press complaints commission however that has now
been shut down and been replaced by the Independent Press Standards
Organisation (IPSO). IPSO is the independent regulator for the newspaper and
magazine industry in the UK. They are committed to working with the newspaper
and magazine industry to maintain and enhance the freedom of the authority of
the press through effective regulation. It is effective to the industry because it
helps Magazines to make sure the right things are being printed and sent out to
the Public without it coming across offensive or harmful, meaning it helps the
industry.

Ethical Issues can become very heated and need to be spoken about carefully.
Some Ethical issues include Abortion, Charities, War, Torture and Sport as well as
others. The way something is worded can mean two completely different things
which is why the article needs to be read through before it is published and
printed. The magazine has to make sure they word things correctly and talk
about each Ethical issue respectively to make it equal otherwise there would be
complaints the magazine are being biased or unfair. Diversity is the state of
being diverse and encouraging variety; this is important because it raises
awareness for different Religions and how they work. The Ethical issues that will
need to be considered would be Charity and Lying as they can be put across
wrong and Womens magazines can lie about beauty products.

When discussing issues such as abortion, war or torture the magazines will need
to carefully think of how they word things and what they say; otherwise they
could come across very offensive and could gain a lot of negative publicity. These
matters are very touchy and everyone has a different view about it which is why
the magazine writer should never include a personal opinion; as it is impossible
to please everyone with what you say in the magazine. However the magazines I
am focusing on do not generally discuss these topics in their magazines so it
shouldnt be an issue with what I am focusing on.
In Womens magazines Women are idolised and are preached for what they do,
however different magazines see Women differently. For example in magazines
aimed at Men Women are sexualised and can often be discriminated against
because the writers know that Women are extremely unlikely to read Mens
magazines so they can get away with it. By idolising Women in Womens
magazines, it means they can feel more powerful and respected for being
themselves and more copies will sell.
In the magazine industry Women are represented as idols and are symbolised for
being beautiful. However they are always shown as having perfect and youthful
skin with beautiful shiny hair as this helps to sell the products the magazines are
advertising. When Women are writing an article about reality they usually do
come across as down to earth and friendly; its only in advertisements that they
have the surreal image. In Womens magazines Men are not focused on a lot so
there is not a way to determine whether they are represented strong or weak but
as I mentioned above Women are shown as strong, independent Women and are
set to be as idols from other Women reading these magazines. For example if
you go onto a magazine website such as Glamour you can see how much famous
Women are being praised for what they have done with their hair, or what they
have worn on the red carpet, which also helps to build their confidence.

Representation of Religious Beliefs are important when writing and publishing a

magazine as they cannot afford to offend the public with religious beliefs. For
example a magazine wouldnt be able to be biased towards a certain Religion
and not give a fair judgement to other Religions as the magazine would be
targeted for being unfair. Some Religions are given negative press and can
sometimes give the public the wrong idea, which is unfair to that particular
religion as it is usually one small thing that has happened has just been
extremely publicised and blown out of proportion meaning the public will act
negatively towards them. This is happening a lot in the media recently and a
whole religion is being seen as something very bad and unsafe due to a group of

people being extremely dangerous; and even though the public know that it isnt
the whole religion they still think this due to such an intense amount of negative
press from the media.
Men and Women should be represented as equal, however I dont think they are
in the majority of Womens magazines as they are all based around Women and
stand up for Womens beliefs. Men are mentioned throughout the magazines but
more during the advice sections; I wouldnt say Men are represented unfairly, its
just that they are not completely focused on. I think the point that Womens
magazines are trying to get across is that you dont always need to have a Man
in your life which is why they are never mentioned and are completely praising
independent Women. However I do agree that overall Men and Women should be
seen and treated equally.