Thesis-2009-Simmons.pdf (48.14 MB)
Children, media and regulation
thesis
posted on 2013-12-04, 13:22 authored by Charlotte SimmonsEach new medium of communication that has emerged over the past century and more
has generated concern over its alleged negative effect on children. This concern has
(in most cases) generated a moral panic, involving campaigning by moral guardians
and office spokespeople, calls for greater regulation and subsequent response from the
government or designated regulators. Based on continued inconclusive media effects
research and debates over adults' and children's rights, regulation has become
increasingly problematic. Such questions as how far you should restrict and protect
children and how it may be possible to balance protection with rights, are complex
and fraught with practical difficulties. These are the kind of questions that regulators
have currently to consider. In addition, media convergence and internet technology
threaten traditional regulatory structures. Such developments pose a further regulatory
quandary. How are regulators attempting to tackle these issues? The thesis attempts to
examine this question by exploring how regulators have responded to panics over
children's media and whether their attempts have resulted in robust regulatory
systems.
The regulation systems analysed embrace advertising and obesity, internet chat-rooms
and grooming, video games and violence and cinema regulation (the 12A
classification). Case studies of these particular areas of current concern show how
regulation has developed and how it works in practice, assess whether such regulation
is effective and if not, recommends ways in which it could be improved.
History
School
- Social Sciences
Department
- Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies
Publisher
© Charlotte SimmonsPublication date
2009Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.516255Language
- en